Hello Hockey Fans,
Welcome to Flames this week (February 8th – 14th)
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Mike Cammalleri won the January segment of the Molson Cup. He was named the first star* in three games and reckoned as a second star** on one occasion. Congratulations Mike! ********************************************************
The first week of February had not been as successful as anticipated for the Flames. Not only did they end their three-game winning streak in Denver; but simultaneously began their losing streak. It has been a while since the Flames have lost four games in a row (two of which were on home ice), which is quite alarming. Yet, on an optimistic note, they are still first in the NW division, and at least 8 points ahead of the Vancouver Canucks. Hopefully, they can maintain this differential as they approach the upcoming four games. For the week of February 8th, the Flames will host one game on home ice and play three games on the road.
Current Statistics: The Flames 30-18-4 have played a total of 52 games and rank 8th in the NHL standings. Their home and road record encompasses 19-7-3 and 11-11-1 respectively.
Game 53: Feb 9th – Flames host the Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens rank 7th in the league and is 29-18-6. Having accumulated a total of 64 points as well, they had won by a score of 4-1 during the Dec 9 encounter between the two teams. Their power play and penalty killing percentage is marginally lower (16.53%:82.77%) than the Flames (18.33%:85.53%) who still have one more game in hand.
This game will be televised on Sportsnet at 7:00 pm.
Game 54: Flames in Anaheim.
En route to Anaheim on Wednesday, hopefully, the Flames can put their recent setback in the shack and tackle their opponents with optimism because they had defeated the Ducks on December 23rd. The Ducks are 27-24-5 have a home record of 14-11-3. Although they have already won twice against the Flames this year, and their power play percentage excels at 22.07%, they were unable to score on man advantage on Saturday and this is a plus for the Flames. Besides their penalty killing is much lower at 81.18%
Sportsnet will also televise this game at 8:00 pm on February 11th
Game 55: Flames on their way to L.A.
Another tiring venture for the Flames as they play back to back games on the road. On Thursday, February 12th, they combat the L.A. Kings. To-date, the Kings (23-21-7) have played only 51 games and have a total of 53 points. They rank 22nd in NHL standings and have a much lower power play and penalty killing ratio than the Flames (18.67:82.46%). The Flames have already won twice on November 1st and November 25th.
This game will be televised at 8:30 pm on Sportsnet as well.
Game 56: Flames in Phoenix on Valentine’s Day (February 14th)
The Phoenix Coyotes (24-26-5) have a total of 53 points and a home record of 16-9-2. They rank 23rd in the NHL with a power play and penalty killing ratio of 13.73%:78.95%. Both teams have won and lost two games a piece.
This Saturday game will be televised courtesy of CBC at 8:00 pm
On a closing note, hopefully, this week will be much better for the Flames in terms of ending their winless drought and pursuing their winning strategies.
p.s. A play by play coverage for all these games will be hosted on The Fan 960.
Statistics as of February 7th.
