Calgary's won two in a row, both kind of improbably, on the back of some stellar performances from Kipper. On the road, no less. The PK is improving, the goals against are finally going down and Regehr looks like a #1 defenseman again, despite playing on an injured ankle. Also, Jarome is unstoppable.
Save your sighs of relief. All is not rainbows and puppies just yet...
In the last 19 games, the Flames have scored more than 3 goals just twice, the most recent being the 5-2 victory over the Avs on November 27 (more than 2 weeks ago). In that same 19 game span, Calgary was held to 2 or less goals 11 times.
Iginla and Tanguay are still getting the job done, more or less. Huselius and Langkow are coming around, though they still aren't producing anywhere near their earlier pace. Lombardi has fallen into a bit of a funk. And pretty much every other forward on the team (with the possible exception of Boyd) can't put a puck in the ocean most nights. As an illustration of the latter issue, consider this nugget from Matt's "Flames through 30" post:
The 2nd PP unit remains worse than garbage. We are 30 games into the season, and the Flames have scored a grand total of one PP goal without Jarome Iginla on the ice. ONE! In 78+ minutes! How is that even possible! Has Toby Petersen been skating for the Flames in Owen Nolan's uniform?!?!?
Unfortunately, that problem has begun to seep into the Flames ES play as well. Without Langkow and Huselius forming an effective secondary unit behind the Iginla/Tanguay duo, the Flames are basically down to one offensive threat (Juice-Langkow-Iginla) and three water-treading units. Which is okay when Kipper is stopping everything and the occasional Cory Sarich floater happens to find the back of net - but it's hardly a winning formula over the long-term.
Basically, the Flames need more secondary firepower if the Iggy/Langkow line is to remain intact. That responsibility lies with:
Tanguay-Conroy-Nolan
Nystrom-Lombardi-Boyd
Those have been the other consistent Keenan combinations recently. See the problem?
Tanguay -STONEHANDS - STONEHANDS
STONEHANDS - Lombardi - Boyd
Tanguay has 5 assists in his last 4 games...but only one has come off a goal by his current line-mates (Nolan in Chicago). Meaning Tanguay has been putting up points when he's on the ice with someone besides Conroy and Nolan.
At some point, Keenan's going to have to realize those last two aren't top 6 forwards any more: they have 21 points between them in 61 games played so far, even though they've spent a majority of the season with players like Langkow, Tanguay, Iginla and Huselius (who all single-handedly eclipse their combined point total). They each have one measly PP point (Tanguay and Iginla have 19). Both are on the wrong side of 35 and are on the downslopes of their careers. There's no more blood to be wrung from these stone(hands).
My suggestion is to consolidate the STONEHANDS on a single line. Send that trio out against tough competition with the explicit goal of "not getting scored on" and use the new found secondary scoring unit against softer opposition. For example -
Huselius-Langkow-Iginla...toughest competition
Tanguay-Lombardi-Boyd...soft competition
Nystrom-Conroy-Nolan...tougher competition
scrubs...softest competition
Beyond generating some secondary offense, this arrangement breaks up the "kid line" of Lombo, Boyd and Nystrom. Sure, they're fast - but they're also 2 rookies and a 25 year-old centerman. Not to mention, Boyd isn't a natural RWer. Meaning, it's an adventure when they get caught in their own zone.
As you can probably predict, the kid line got eaten alive against the Panthers: they were the only unit to put up negative Corsi figures for the evening. That's despite the fact that Martin ran the Jokinen/Horton line against Conroy's trio most of the game. Being outplayed while seeing softer opposition is a bad sign and should be reserved for 5 minute/night guys like Godard.
I don't think that would happen with Tanguay on the wing. He's the second best ES producer on the team and would go a long way to encouraging some results from guys like Lombardi and Boyd. Nystrom - god love him - works his ass off, finishes his checks and is a decent PKer, but is a total void in the offensive zone. Combine him with Conroy and Nolan and you've sequestered all the missed empty-nets and de-fused offensive zone cycles onto one line. While that means those players won't score a lot (hell, they don't score now anyways), it also removes all the "offensive dampeners" from the top 6 - meaning 2 full lines of actual firepower. Hallelujah.
Not that any of this is bound to happen. I'll probably just have to play out my fantasy combinations in the magical land of video games...
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Flames in Tampa-Bay tonight. The Lightning have 3 fantastic hockey players in Lacavalier, St. Louis and Richards, some decent ones in Ranger and Prospal...and not a hell of a lot else. Their goaltending is sub-par and their blueline, minus Sarich and the injured Dan Boyle, is middling at best. As such, Tampa is a very beatable team if you can contain the top 3 guys. If not, prepare to be railroaded.
This is the game Flames fans should be thanking god that a) Kipper is back on track and b) Regehr is in the line-up. Otherwise, another disappointing defeat in the St. Pete Times Forum was inevitable.
But, since a) and b) are true, Calgary has a good chance of winning and finally extending a win streak beyond 2 games for the first time this year. Let's go with a 3-2 Flames victory. Langkow, Boyd and Huselius for Calgary. Lecavalier and Gratton for the Bolts.
