The Penguins three-game Western Canada road trip continues tonight with 9:00 p.m. visit with the Calgary Flames. They’ll be greeting in Calgary by former Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland, who will suit up wearing No. 29 for the red and black tonight.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: The Flames have turned some heads in the Western Conference this season, as the young squad is currently in playoff contention and seven points ahead of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division.
This is the final game of a six-game home stand for the Flames. They’ve won four of their last five games and eight of their last ten, including back-to-back overtime wins over the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings.
Leading the Flames has been a stellar defensive effort. Mark Giordano was a deserving selection as an NHL All-Star and has thrown his hat into Norris Trophy consideration as one of the league’s best defensemen. He leads all NHL defensemen with 43 points and plays over 25 minutes per night for the Flames, including time on both the power play and the penalty kill.
Up front, a pair of unheralded youngsters has led the way for the Flames. Boston College graduate Johnny Gaudreau, a former fourth-round draft pick, is second amongst NHL rookies with 39 points, far outscoring presumptive Calder Trophy favorite Jonathan Drouin of the Tampa Bay Lighting.
Center Josh Jooris is 12th in rookie scoring, despite playing in only 37 games as he struggled to stay in the lineup at the start of the season. The undrafted 24-year old out of Union College already has 10 goals under his belt.
MEN IN MASKS: With the Penguins playing in back-to-back games tonight at Edmonton and tomorrow in Vancouver, the Penguins will split the goaltending duties with Marc-Andre Fleury starting tonight and Thomas Greiss tomorrow.
“(Penguins goaltending coach) Mike Bales and I looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year and sort of put the games down for Greiss and for Fleury, and then as the year goes along, you sort of look at that again,” said head coach Mike Johnston. “This is the way we had it at the beginning and we just decided to keep it. Flower had a good game in Edmonton and is coming off a shutout, so we thought we’d go with him again tonight.”
Fleury is 6-1 with one shutout in seven career games against the Flames with a .941 save percentage and a 1.70 goals-against average, his best numbers against any opponent. Fleury is 3-0 in four starts in Calgary. He was injured after making just two saves in his first appearance at the Saddledome in 2007.
For the Flames, Jonas Hiller will man the pipes. The 32-year old Swiss netminder is having a solid year, with a .915 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against average despite a middling 17-14-2 record. In six career games against the Penguins, he is 2-3-1 with an .889 save percentage and a 2.83 goals-against average.
THE 4077: Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff (head) and forward Blake Comeau (wrist) are both close to returning and may be ready to go when the team returns to Pittsburgh next week.
MINOR MATTERS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (25-18-4, 2nd in AHL East) are in Hershey to take on the first-place Bears at 7:00 p.m. tonight.
The Wheeling Nailers (20-22, 4th in ECHL North) lost a heartbreaker in Reading, 2-1, on Wednesday. The Nailers appeared to have tied the game at two with under a minute remaining, but Chaz Johnson’s goal was waived off and the Royals prevailed. Eric Hartzell took the loss while making 22 saves. Josh Archibald had the lone goal in his first ECHL game. The Nailers start a four-game homestand with a 7:35 p.m. faceoff against the Toledo Walleye tonight.
#CAWLIDGEHAWKEY: Robert Morris (19-5-4, 1st in AHC) hosts the second-place Canisius Griffins this weekend. The Griffins trail the Colonials by eight points in the Atlantic Hockey standings with eight games remaining. Dalton Izyk will start in goal tonight for the Colonials. Game time is 7:05 at 84 Lumber Arena.
Penn State (13-7-4, 2nd in Big Ten) hosts Wisconsin this weekend at Pegula Ice Arena. The Nittany Lions and the Michigan State Spartans are in a dead heat for second place with 16 points in Big Ten play, but Penn State has a game in hand. The top two seeds will receive a bye in March’s Big Ten tournament. The Badgers have struggled this season and are 0-6-2 in conference play.
Photo credit: USA Today
