Although not exactly tearing up the charts, the Kings aren't really the league's punching bags anymore. They actually have a better GD than the Flames at 5on5 and are getting capable goaltending from Erik Ersberg.
They aren't world beaters either, so this is obviously a winnable game for Calgary. No word on what the line combos will be for tonight, although I'm sure we'll see the Iginla/Bert coupling persist. Boooooo...
Conroy was quoted in the paper today, something to the tune of "Iginla's had a great start and all you hear is how he's off. He's 8th in the league in scoring but they always want more." (paraphrased).
Now, Conroy might just be defending his friend and captain. If so, fair enough.
If he's sincere, though, it shows how even players themselves don't understand that production is highly influenced by circumstance and opportunity.
Iginla's gross production is pretty good, but his scoring rate at ES is mediocre in an absolute sense and terrible relative to his prior two seasons. Iginla is currently 6th in the league in terms of ES ice time per game and second in the league in terms of PP ice per game* (behind only Evgeni Malkin).
*(Bertuzzi is third!!!)
He's getting scored on a lot too.
So, yeah, Jarome has 24 points - but that has a lot to do with his mounds and mounds of ice time. He's also a negative player, one year removed from being one of the most dominant ES forwards in the Western Conference. There's absolutely no question that Jarome has to improve going forward, Conroy's protests to the contrary aside.
Prediction - Calgary 3, Kings 2. Boyd, Giordano and Langkow for the Flames. Kopitar and Brown for the Kings.
Go Flames!
Update - Looks like Lombo and Cammalleri have drawn the Iginla lottery ball, dropping Langkow with Bertuzzi and Boyd. That leaves Bourque with Conroy and Glencross and demotes Moss to play with the pluggers.
Assuming these lines stay relatively firm , who takes on Kopitar tonight then? Conroy? What I do like about the practice set-up is the potential for Cammalleri to get more ice, since I think he's been under utilitzed so far.
