Gameday: A scummy rematch

Lots of good vibes after the glorious victory on Thursday, although I think I would caution against getting too high after that one. The Flames played well enough to win for sure, but to my eye that was one of those "coulda gone either way" games. The bounces favored the Flames over the course of the night (they were "more opportunistic" to put it into MSM speech) and that's probably the primary reason they came out with the W.

I've liked the new first line since it's inception, although, again, optimism should be tempered. Despite scoring 3 of the Flames 4 goals they were actually out-played at ES by the Kesler trio last game. No real shame in that, Kelser/Burrows/Hansen have been excellent this year, but the fact remains Cammalleri's three shot/three goal performance was as fortunate as it was impressive.

Best thing about the corsi figures? The Sedins drowning and Bertuzzi/Langkow/Bourque with their heads above water. As mentioned, AV targeted the second line earlier on with the Sedin twins and Keenan countered by substituting Bourque for Moss (something Charlie Simmer pointed out, actually. It's been quite the red letter week for Black Swans). Although the twins did end up scoring, the possession numbers are pretty favorable for Calgary. Which is encouraging, because Daniel and Henrik are as good as they are grotesque.


That said, it'll be interesting to see what Keenan does with last change tonight. Does he try to get Jarome away from Kesler et al? Will Bourque stay with the second line to continue the sheltering of Sore Thumb or will that be unnecessary now that the team is at home?

Also, does anyone else regard the Aucoin/Regehr pairing as a ticking time bomb? I mean, it's worked so far but my faith in Aucoin being able to capably shut-down the big guns is still pretty shaky. Regehr has been fantastic as usual and could probably play with just about anyone, but...

Also, I haven't decided if the Sarich demotion is a Sarich thing or a Pardy thing. Is Cory on the third pairing to cover for the kid or is he there because Keenan thinks he's been lousy so far? We may have to wait for Vandermeer to get back into the line-up to find out. If Aucoin sticks to Reggie when Vandermeer is back in, we can safely assume that Sarich is in the dog house.

Prediction - Flames take it in overtime. Calgary 2, Vancouver 1. Moss and Lombardi for the Flames. Wellwood for the Canucks.

Go Flames!

PS - A quick reminder that Matt and I will be at Schanks North next Friday to take in the Oilers/Flames double header. Come one, come all!