Game Day Preview- Calgary Flames vs St. Louis Blues
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Today the Calgary Flames come to town to take on the St. Louis Blues for a Monday afternoon matinée start of 1:00 pm at the Scottrade Center. The Blues are coming off a disappointing loss on opening night against the Nashville Predators. Despite peppering Pekka Rinne with over 30 shots on goal, the Blues were only able to solve the Vesna Trophy finalist twice. Compiled with some defensive/ special teams mishaps and a shaky performance by Jarosalav Halak the Blues came up short and lost the game 4-2. Today the boys look to put that first game behind them quickly and take down the Flames, who are also coming off an opening night home loss. Keys for today’s game for the Blues will be very simple. They must stop Jarome Iginla and his ability to bust the game wide open. Another Flame they need to pay attention to will be Curtis Glencross. Glencross scored a goal opening night for the Flames and will certainly be looking to get back on the score sheet today. Expect Davis Payne to roll out lines similar to, or exactly the same as, we saw on Saturday night for the home opener.
Mcdonald- Backes- Langenbrunner
Oshie- Berglund- Stewart
Steen- Arnott- D’Agostini
Sabotka- Nichols- Reaves
Defense-man parings
Jackman- Pietrangelo
Huskins- Polak
Nikitin- Shattenkirk
News this morning coming from Andy Strickland says that Carlo Colaiacovo will not be available for today’s game. Carlo suffered a knee to the head after being tripped into the boards opening night. Look for him to be replaced by Kent Huskins. If Carlo is going to be out long term, look for Ian Cole to be the first arriving defense-man from Peoria. Blues fans should strap in to their seats and get ready for this potentially high powered offense to do some damage today against the flames. Pay particular attention to the Oshie-Berglund-Stewart line as this combo seems to have some chemistry to their game already after one match up.
The Calgary Flames this season will be looking to atone for the disappointment that was last season. The team finished just out of a play off spot and just like the blues spent the off season on the outside looking in. The Flames play a fairly physical game yet have enough skill to beat other teams in a number of ways. It would be foolish for anyone to assume this team to be a push over. With 40 + goal scorer Jarome Iginla on your side it gets a bit easier to see just how potent the Flames can be on offense. With Miika Kiprusoff in net the red jerseys of the north have a chance to win games nightly. Kiprusoff has been a constantly good goaltender for his entire career spanning 11 years in the NHL. The Finnish net minder has given the blues fits in the past and would suspect he will continue to do so this season.
Don’t forget today is one of the Boeing Military Appreciation days at the rink. Military members be sure to come and be recognized for all that you do for our country. With out the support of our men and women in the armed forces we would not be able to enjoy our favorite sport in the world!
I leave you with this thought for today’s game… Great teams find a way to win games even when they do not have their best stuff each night. Will the blues be able to harness this key this season? I would like to think so! LET’S GO BLUES!
