The one benefit to this roadtrip for the Flames is escaping the cascading white stuff here in Calgary. I always dread having to break my car's window scraper out if it's summer hybernation (I had to do that recently), which is something that will be mercifully delayed for the Flames players now that they are down in sunny NASCAR country.
Of course, that may be the only positive Calgary reaps from this roadtrip. Travelling across nearly the entire United States and facing some of NHL's best teams over the next week or so will no doubt prove a difficult task. Nashville. Detroit. Philadelphia and New Jersey and Pittsburgh. And then return to the cold embrace of Southern Alberta only to be met with the current league Juggernaut Ottawa Senators. Shudder.
But...on to the task at hand. "One game at a time" and all that.
Tonight the Flames face the Predators. 2nd in the Central Division behind Detroit, Nashville has as many points as Calgary (31), but has played 4 fewer games. The streaky Predators began the season 8 and 0, only to drop their next five. Like Detroit, some of their success can be attriubted to their weak divisional rivals - having 3 of the NHL's worst in your division can only serve to boost your point totals.
Not to say that this is a bad team Calgary will be facing. Backed by the skillful and Iginla-hating Vokoun, Nashville has a decent defense corps headed by Timonen and Zidlicky as well as fast, agile forwards lead by Paul Kariya and Steve Sullivan. After 21 games, Nashville's leaders include Sullivan (9 goals), Timonen/Kariya (12 assists) and Scott Hartnell (+6). Like Calgary, Nashville doesn't have a lot of players challenging the leagues scoring leaderboards (only Kariya has 20+ points). Also similar to the Flames, the Predators have 2 defensemen in their top five point-getters (Timonen - 16 points, Zidlicky - 14 points). What is perhaps disconcerting for the Predators is Kariya's shoddy plus/minus rating (-8), which indicates a penchant for lax defensive-zone coverage (and/or high risk plays). Conversely, the Flames top point-getter, Jarome Iginla, has a +8 rating as well as his 24 points. Only Marcus Nilson is better with a +10.
Both teams are coming off of weekend defeats. Calgary fell to Edmonton 2-1 in a shoot-out decision, while Nashville was defeated by the Stars 3-1 on Saturday night. The Flames will want to avoid losing 2 in a row for the first time in a month, while Nashville will want to continue to pursue Detroit for the Central Division lead. Of interest to Flames fans will be the play of Andrew Ference (if he's in the line-up at all). Over the course of the season Ference has shown a definate lack of decision making skills, which, as I've mentioned previously, is reflected by his -3 rating. Also, Jarome Iginla hasn't scored a goal in five games and is more than due.
The game tonight gives the Flames a chance to start this challenging roadtrip off on the right foot. A good effort against Nashville could bolster their confidence en route to some difficult games against some top notch teams in the days to come. Let's hope the 3 days rest has done them some good...
oh, and...WIN FLAMES - OR I WILL PUSH THIS LINESMAN AROUND.
