The dearth of meaningful analysis 'round these parts has a simple explanation: I'm lazy. Anyways, I think you all enjoyed the bizarre Lombo/seal comparison so I'm not going to apologize.
With the play-off race basically set in the West and the dream of a NW Division title growing dimmer and dimmer, the Flames are left with merely jockeying for position.
Though "merely" is probably the wrong way to describe this final goal. As it stands now, the eighth place Flames are in line to meet the first place Nashville Predators in the first round. And, as any Flames fan knows, the Predators are, without a doubt, the very worst opponent for Calgary to meet in the post-season. As Matt pointed out recently, the last Flames goaltender to beat them was Roman Turek...
"Do you know what nemesis means?"
Not to mention the fact that 8th place in the WC can only be considered underachievement by this roster. Considering that at least 4 forwards are experiencing career-year-type offensive production (Iginla, Langkow, Lombardi, Huselius) and the team is a net +39 in terms of GD, one can't help but look at where the Flames are in the standings and scratch his/her head. The first place Canucks, for instance, have a GD of +11 and even that's only thanks to a stellar 2nd half (ie; amazing goaltending since January). The Wild, who are slightly ahead of Calgary at this point, own a marginally more impressive +22 GD. The point here is, the Flames two main NWD rivals, and superiors standings-wise as of right now, lag significantly behind them in the stat that is the single best predictor of success. What's that spell? U-N-D-E-R-A-C-H...well, you get the idea.
Obviously, the baffling road record and inability to close in the extra frame(s) are the primary sources of the UA. The causes of these issues are harder to pinpoint, however. Good blueline, great goalie, effective offensive talent. The Flames should be gold in OT - or at least better than a coin toss, rather than the 2/12 they currently are. As for the road thing...I've decided to let that go. It is the Chupacabra, the Loch Ness Monster, the Bermuda Triangle of the Calgary Flames this season. Hoping it doesn't continue into the play-offs (and next year) is all we have left on that front.
Tonight, the surprisingly decent St. Louis Blues come to town. With the Wild hovering 3 points up, the Flames need to claim victory this evening and inch farther away from the dreaded 8th place seeding. The Blues have recently been gutted, have nothing to play for and are a full 14 points behind Calgary in the standings. "Should wins"="must wins" at this point of the season. Calgary can ill-afford to piss away valuable points to opponents who are simply playing out the stretch.
With that said, I think the boys get the job done tonight. Time to start yet another home winning streak. Flames 4, Blues 1. Huselius (2), Tanguay and Stuart for Calgary. The irrepressible Lee Stempniak for St. Loo.
GO FLAMES!
EDIT - Talk is, Lombo will be playing between Iggy and Tanguay in place of the injured Conroy. Give 'em hell Seal-Boy!
