With all the contract and trade talk over the last little while, game analysis has certainly taken a back seat around here. As such, I don't think I've mentioned how impressive the Conroy/Tanguay/Nolan line has been recently. Not only have they been contributing on the scoresheet, they've frequently done so while playing against the other team's best players. Keenan made this strategy explicit last game against the Sharks when he was interviewed by MacGuire on the bench - Pierre asked about the matching game and Keenan said he was specifically trying to get Conroy out against Thornton. End result? Tanguay/Nolan,Conroy, 3 goals, +8, Thornton -3.
Other encouraging signs: Lombardi with Yelle and Moss, which still isn't ideal for the guy but is far better than the Nystrom/Boyd arrangement. Also, the Aucoin/Phaneuf duo persisted for the 2nd straight game. Im not sure if Eriksson was scratched due to his shoulder problems (I thought it was supposed to be minor?) or because Keenan has realized that Bubba is a liability out there, but I hope it keeps up.
Also, Phaneuf finally shaking his scoreless streak of 18 games with a blast from the point brought a smile my face.
The bad? Jarome Iginla and co. were held of the scoresheet again. I think they generated some good chances and outplayed the competition last game, but they just couldn't finish. Iginla especially flubbed a number of high quality scoring chances and now has gone 8 games without a goal. Yelle, Lombardi, Nolan and Primeau (!) have scored more goals than Jarome in the last 8 games. More distressing is the fact that Iggy is a minus player in that time period, even though the team is on a 4 game winning streak and Keenan's been feeding him some of the easier match-ups. Im certain the Captain will work his way out of this funk eventually, but sooner rather than later would be nice.
Dallas is in town tonight. I picked them to be a play-off bubble team at the start if the season, but, improbably, they've overcome what looks like a lackluster forward group and are challenging for the Pacific division crown. They've even had significant injury concerns, with Zubov, Boucher and Lehtinen missing huge chunks of time, but they just seem to keep rolling along. Incredible steps forward by Ribeiro, Morrow and Hagman and the emergence of rookie Matt Niskanen sure haven't hurt though.
Im loathe to predict a win tonight because Dallas always plays us well AND the Flames won when I predicted a loss last game. However, Im going to do it anyways. Calagry 3, Dallas 1. Iginla, Huselius and Lombardi for the Flames. Modano for the Stars.
Go Flames.
