Coming out of the Shark tank with a split is probably the best the Flames could hope for going into the San Jose. I've been pleasantly surprised by the level of "try" in Calgary's game so far: the first couple of performances far outstripped the efforts we saw from this club just a year ago. Unlike the Playfair-led squad, there's actually some hope that the Flames can win the series this time around. There's been good performances from guys besides Kiprusoff and the balance of shots and chances at ES are close to even.
That said, there are obviously things to be worried about for Flames fans. The PP has looked pretty crappy outside of the lone Phaneuf goal and a couple of other weaknesses that were in evidence all year (discipline, transition game) have been obvious and glaring, particularly in the recent loss. In addition, the Sharks have managed to grossly out-shoot Calgary in each game so far...a trend the Flames should look to curb, if not eradicate entirely, if they want to get this thing to 7 games or beyond.
I haven't even mentioned the fact that the Sharks were one of the best road teams in the league during the regular season. A loud - and red - crowd will likely do it's best to swing the advantage to the Flames favor tonight, plus Keenan will now have the luxury of targeting some of the Sharks lesser lights tonight. Iron Mike's extremely pro-active bench management through the first couple of contests suggests he'll have some tricks up his sleeve this evening, which is something I guess.
Line-up notes: According to inside the Flames, it looks like Conroy will be back up with Jarome and Tanguay, with Langkow centering the 2nd line and Lombo back down with Primeau and Yelle. I can't say why, since I thought Conroy struggled relative to Lombardi and Langkow the last little while. Course, this all depends on how Keenan plans to use each line and whether these combinations will stick for entire night (I doubt it).
No word on the defense pairings, so I guess we can assume no change for now. It wouldn't surprise me, though, to see Eriksson back beside Phaneuf given Vandermeer's rough night last game. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Prediction - Iginla takes this one over and the Flames win a close one. Calgary 3 (Iggy X2, Nolan) San Jose 2 (Michalek, Roenick).
Go Flames!
