Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
The Calgary Flames face the Chicago Blackhawks with both teams heading in opposite directions this season. The Flames have a 19-14-7 record and are in the middle of the Pacific Division while the Blackhawks have a 9-25-4 record and with only two wins in their last 10 games have fallen to the bottom of the Central Division. Both teams look to improve in the Western Conference and the upcoming game looks to be a good one.
The Flames are having a strong season with their offense stepping up and scoring 3.05 goals per game. Nazem Kadri, Elias Lindholm, and Tyler Toffoli have scored 42 goals and 45 assists to lead the top two lines but the entire offense has stepped up. Jonathan Huberdeau, Mikael Backlund, and Dillon Dube have combined for 23 goals and 45 assists while defenseman Rasmus Andersson has added five goals and 22 assists from the point to open up the offense.
The offense has been great but the defense has fueled the recent hot streak for the Flames, allowing only 2.90 goals per game with only eight goals in the last four games. Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin have combined for 5.3 defensive point shares and 140 blocked shots while Nikita Zadorov, MacKenzie Weegar, and Chris Tanev have combined for 5.7 defensive point shares to add depth to the unit. The hope is that goaltender Jacob Markstrom can impro ve as he has a .897 save percentage and a 2.72 goals-against average on 728 shots.