Tonight, the Florida Panthers will finish off a five-game road trip against the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The two teams will cap the season series in Sunrise on April 4, 2014. This is the Cats’ first game in Calgary since a 3-0 win on October 15, 2010. Florida has gone a respectable 2-2 on its current swing, but will need to bounce back from last night’s disappointing 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers to end the trek on a positive note.
The Flames (7-11-4) will be playing the second of a three-game homestand. They lost 2-1 in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday. Calgary will get four days off after this one before welcoming the Chicago Blackhawks to Cowtown. They are winless (0-4-2) in their last six on home ice.
The Panthers will need to contain Jiri Hudler, Mike Cammalleri, and rookie Sean Monahan to give themselves a good chance of winning. The trio has accounted for 24 of the 60 goals Calgary has scored this season.
Tim Thomas could finally give way to Scott Clemmensen, who hasn’t played since November 7th, tonight. Thomas has started seven straight and is due for a rest, but I wouldn’t be that surprised to see him back in the cage.
The loss to the Oilers, along with the injuries to Tomas Kopecky and Jesse Winchester, will probably result in some changes to the forward ranks. Expect to see Sean Bergenheim and Scott Gomez play tonight.
The clubs will face-off at 9 PM tonight. Due to time constraints, there will be no GameDay Preview today. Keep it here until Donny appeases R’hilor by igniting the GameThread at 8:30. For the opposition’s take, head over to Matchsticks & Gasoline for more on the matchup.