Welcome to Flames this week
The Flames’ Captain has surpassed Al MacInnis on all time points. Congratulations, Jarome. Eight more to go!
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….and of course, the Calgary Flames continued their point and win streak. In the 3-2 S/O victory against the Edmonton Oilers, the Flames remarkably earned the two points without *four of their regular teammates. Their ascendancy in coming back from a one goal deficit twice on Saturday is absolutely stunning – no other team in the NHL has supposedly had as many (≈ 20) comebacks from behind to grab a point or two as the Flames have! Well done.
After a fairly productive two weeks, the Flames (35-18-6) are leading the NW division and six points ahead of the Vancouver Canucks. With 20 wins 7 losses and 4 ties on home ice, they end the final week of February to host two more games at the Pengrowth Saddledome. Albeit they seem to be struggling on man advantages, but they had countered this setback with their outstanding penalty killing effort on Saturday night: the penalty killers killed the 53 seconds two men disadvantage and almost two minutes 3 vs. 4 nail biting overtime. Consequently, the Flames power play and penalty killing percentage averages 17.87% and 86.05% respectively.
Game 60: Feb 24th – The Flames host the Columbus Blue Jackets @ 7:00 pm on PPV
The Blue Jackets (30-24-6) have accumulated a total of 66 points and have a record of 11 wins, 14 losses and 4 ties on the road. Subsequently, they rank 14th in the league with a power play and penalty killing percentage considerably lower than the Flames (12.94% and 81.35%). Should the Flames make the most of home ice advantage and favorable statistics, the win against the Blue Jackets can be accomplished more easily. On the cautious side though, both teams have won and lost a game a piece; but the Flames still have one more game in hand.
Please note that this game will also be available on line.
Game 61: Feb 27th – The Flames host the Minnesota Wild @ 7:00 pm on Sportsnet
The Wild (30-24-4) have a road record of 12-13-0. Having accumulated a total of 64 points in 58 games, they have a stronger power play and penalty killing percentages that averages 20.92 % and 88.04% respectively. On the contrary, the Flames have won all the three games against their western counterparts thus far.
Both these games will also be hosted on the Fan 960.
On a disconcerting closing note, *Daymond Langkow, Andre Roy, Rene Bourque and Mark Giordano had sustained injuries on Feb 17th and 19th: As their return will be predetermined on a day to day basis and may be indefinite (as in Bourque’s case); Flames fans can only anticipate and wish them a speedy recovery. In the interim, Kyle Greentree and Jamie Lundmark have been the significant additions to the Flames team; their confidence and contribution on Saturday night was overwhelming. Let’s welcome Kyle and Jamie.
Statistics as of February 23rd
