Or rather, Moderately-Sized Bad Detroit in town. The Red Wings are hurting both literally (injuries to Lidtrom, Rafalski, Hasek, Kronvall and Cleary) and figuratively (4-5-1 in their last 10) and are probably at the peak of their vulnerability. Wouldn't it be ironic* if in their efforts to avoid Detroit in the first round, the Flames beat Detroit?
*(Is that irony? I'll have to consult Alanis on that one...)
Injured or not, losing or not, the Wings still scare the shit out of me. They've won all 3 meetings this year and 8 of the last 10 (going back to last year's play-offs) against the Flames. Their big guns almost always seem to beat up on our big guns and Babcock is a great coach.
Still, the few wins the Flames have versus the Wings the last couple of seasons all happened in the Dome, so that's something. Plus, new ace-in-the-hole, super-secret weapon Jim Vandermeer will be making his Calgary debut tonight (tremble before his might!). Predictably, Vandermeer will be lining up with Phaneuf to start, pushing Aucoin down into the 3rd pairing with Hale (where Adrian excels) and Warrener right out of the line-up (with Anders Eriksson, where they both excel...hooray!). This is all good news assuming Vandermeer is better than Rhetzky or Bubba and, let's face, that can't be all that hard**.
**(Fun fact - Dion Phaneuf has 4 points and is +5 in the last two games, both with Eriksson watching from the pressbox. During the month of October, Phaneuf had 3 goals, 6 assists and was a +10 in 12 games played. Again, when he wasn't partnered with Anders Eriksson. Coincidence?)
Other probably good news: Iginla and Tanguay have shown signs of awakening from extended slumps. Tanguay*** in particular was outstanding last game, scoring twice including an eye-popping, short-handed, toe-drag around hall-of-fame center, go-ahead goal in the 3rd. Alex had gone 16 games between goals, so that was a nice back-monkey to shake.
***(Did you know that Tanguay might be traded for Micheal Ryder?? If not, TSN mentions it -- again -- in their Flames/Red Wings preview. Worry not, though, Flames fans! Ryder could be an "offensive upgrade"! According to Pierre McGuire at least.)
For his part, Iginla now has 6 goals in his last 8 games after that 10 game goalless drought back at the start of the month. He has 9 points total over that span and managed a +5 rating as well. Actually the best sign might be that Jarome looks REALLY PISSED OFF a lot these days; and it's conventional wisdom that Iggy plays better mad. He's been in two fights the last 3 games and is one major away from matching his season high (set in '00-'01 I think). Good stuff (as long as he doesn't injure himself, of course).
One final note - I would expect Dustin Boyd to draw in for either Smith or Godard. Neither played much against the Stars and either would prove to be equally as useless (moreso?) against the Wings. Boyd can also be sheltered a bit more by Keenan on home ice, which means he'll be less of a liability. Expect a Godard-Boyd-Nilson or Smith-Boyd-Nilson 4th line this evening.
Prediction - Vandermeer records a rare hat-trick/triple fight night. He scores 3 goals and then beats up Aaron Downey a couple of times (and Dallas Drake for good measure). Unfortunately, it's not enough to defeat the Wings or quiet the Tanguay rumors. Flames 3 (Vandermeer X3), Red Wings 4 (Zetterberg X2, Filpulla, Holmstrom).
Go Flames.
PS - Kudos to Corey Sarich for coming back in after having having 5 teeth pushed into his head by a stray puck last game. He may have played like crap the last month or so, but that's pretty ballsy. Also, it was Sarich that brushed the puck off the goal line and out of the net which was followed shortly by Tanguay's SH goal.
