Chicago has owned Alberta so far this year. They spanked the Flames 6-1 the last time the two teams met up and frog-splashed the hapless Oil 9-2 a few days ago.
The Blackhawks have all the arrows pointing in the right direction. They have the best GD in the WC outside of San Jose (+29) and are one of only of three Western teams to have managed more than 100 GF so far (108). Now, I wouldn't bet on them finishing better than Red Wings at the end of the year (despite the superior GD) but they are certainly amongst the 2nd tier (3-6) teams in the conference. And they're probably a couple of years away from peaking.
The Flames have been heading in the right direction recently too, although they are still in the red in terms of GD (-1). Glencross is still hurt, so expect more Lundmark in the top 6.
And while it bugs me that Boyd is getting passed over in favor of a fringe NHLer, the real concern may be the #1 duo on the back-end. Since they were paired up, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop. And while they've actually been effective overall, I think some cracks have begun to form: they were scored on the ice for all three goals in St. Louis and then for both goals the next night in Minnesota. In the recent match against Florida, the two were on for Bouwmeester's marker.
That's right: 6 of the last 7 GA have come against Adrian Aucoin and Robyn Regehr...small sample, but disturbing trend nonetheless.
Outside of the stats, Aucoin has looked dreadful to my eye recently. His egregious give-away was the sole cause of the Berglund goal on Tuesday, for example. He's looked particularly slow and a step behind in his own end overall.
If the top pairing continues to falter, Im not really sure what the solution is though. Corey Sarich is probably more effective on the third pairing and no one else on the team is really capable of stepping up. I guess we'll see what happens, especially once Vandermeer returns.
Im also a bit worried that Bertuzzi is going to materialize on Iginla's line this evening after his highlight reel GWG. We all know Keenan harbors (not so) secret, forbidden feelings for big Bert, so seeing him pot that OT winner with such panache must have swelled the heart in his chest and set off all the "Bertuzzi rulez!!!1!11!" neurons in his brain.
"Now that the big guy is back on track, I might as well re-unite him with Jarome. How will defensemen be able to stop them? How I ask? HOW?"
How indeed.
Prediction - Hawks 5, Flames 3. Kane (2), Havlat, Campbell and Byfuglien for Chicago. Iginla, Lombardi and Giordano for Calgary.
