travel_dude

Think we are looking more like the following for a lineup, but can't say for sure just on a practice/game day skate: Pat Steinberg @Fan960Steinberg #Flames projected tonight in Buffalo, per the team: Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk Coleman-Backlund-Mangiapane Dube-Monahan-Pitlick Lucic-Richardson-Lewis Hanifin-Andersson Kylington-Tanev Zadorov Gudbranson Markstrom

Never had a problem with Ward as an assistant coach. Eakins was fond of the swarm defense.

^^^^ I would have loved to see Vladar get tonight as a tuneup. No doubt Markstrom gets the opening of the new arena in NY. Vladar likely the starter in Beantown. Interesting to see Mangiapane with Backlund and Coles. Why don't they use Coles on RW and put Mange in his natural slot? Oh, well. Not the worst thing. Monahan with Dube and Pitlick. I like the idea of Dube with Monahan. Have a 2nd C available for draws. Monahan can cheat a little more wiothout fear of having no other C to take the draw. 4th line is what it is. A hard checking line. No great speed to match the Buffalo kids, but will disrupt on the forecheck.

Back to game day B's. We need to have them regret trading for Tuck and Krebs. Put them in their place. Show them what a real team looks like.

How about good ole Rushan Rafikov? Drafted in the 7th round of 2013. 8 years in the KHL and a pretty steady D-man.

Between Troy Terry and Zegras, they are killing it. They still have two elite D plus an elite G. I hope they hang on to Gibson. And only consider trading Lindholm or Fowler to us. Getzlaf is laughing.

It's a big thing. Maybe whomever is really leading this team into the playoffs should be named C at the start of it. It has to be a guy the refs respect.

I don't think we name the cap'n this season. We give an A to Lindy. In an alternate universe, we trade Monahan for Forsberg. Give him the A and negotiate an extension IMMEDIATELY. If he isn't a center, then we move Dube there. I'm becoming less of a Tkachuk fan on a nightly basis. Maybe we do Tkachuk for Forsberg and Monahan for Dvorak. All of a sudden we have two top 6 RHS. Then slap an A on Forsberg.

NHL Player Safety is really bizarre. Backlund fined $5k for a "crosscheck" on Konecny. That sure looked like a push with the gloves. Unfortunate result on the play but I doubt it was cross check. Mangiapane was X-checked twice in the middle of the back; stick to back. No call until the third one. Much more dangerous than the hit on Konecny.

The stick to the mask of the goalie was called. Unlike the backhander the other game, this one was harder to say it was the right call. You are going for the puck. It's not like a high stick on a player standing up. It seemed like the puck was frozen or close to it, so I will say it's probably the right call. Can't say for sure it was intentional. I'm okay in moving Hanifin, but not unless we get a top 4 LD somehow. Kylington may be more skilled and a better 200 foot player, but he's not ready for 22 minutes. Chychrun would be ideal for a target. Would even throw in a 1st and Ruzicka. Probably wouldn't get it done. Just to add trade talk in another thread.... Monahan to MTL for Dvorak. Hanifin + 1st + Valimaki for Chychrun. We get a top D, plus a 200 foot C that is not fitting well in MTL. Then we figure out what the lines look like: Gaudreau-Lindholm-Mangiapane Tkachuk-Dvorak-Dube Coleman-Backlund-Pitlick Lucic-Ruzicka-Duehr/Lewis Chychrun-Ras Kylington-Tanen Zaddy-Guddy Stone

The lines seem to be less of the standard L1, L2, L3 and more of 100 foot and 200 foot lines. The minutes are fed to the line that is doing the most on both ends. This makes it difficult to set up the Backlund line. It's the best defensive line, but suffers from no scoring threats. I'm finding it difficult to set up lines as such. Gaudreau-Lindholm Mangiapane-Dube Coleman-Backlund Lucic-Pitick Monahan may be best used with Dube. Tkachuk fits with Gaudreau, but he might be best served with Backlund. Missing that key RW and 4C. Are we sure that Ruzicka couldn't produce on the 4th line? He's a sniper.

I'm confused with the title and what you are saying. If the season goes south, is it Johnny's fault? I love Lindholm, but I'm not sure he's a guy that everyone listens to. Tanev, Gaudreau lead on the ice.

I suspect that Coleman is being used to help the 2nd line when we don't have the puck. Really, the best I have seen him play is with Gaudreau and with Backlund/Pitlick. You want some offense from Monahan's line? Yes, go with Dube in there. Great chemistry between him and Mange. Hanifin only worries me when it's a low scoring game, tied or up by just one. OT is not the best place to use him, or PP for that matter. At times, I am happy with the 4th line, but I think we are short a C. Lucic is the best player on that line at times. IT should have been over in the first. 8 scoring chances!

Pat Steinberg @Fan960Steinberg Asked Oliver Kylington on our postgame about Calgary’s 1-5 overtime record. Loved his response: “I wish I had the perfect answer for you, but I don’t think I have one. I’m just sick of losing in overtime. We just have to figure our Satoshi Nakamoto out and get a win in OT.” #Flames

Oilers finally get a tough draw. The score looks close, but really the only reason why Oiler got any goals was PP. 5v3 for 1st PP goal. After the player comes back on, the 2nd PP goal. Good luck when the refs stop giving chances away like free gum

I don't know what's going on. Ras is slow out there but smart. Just not very fluid. 3v3 Gaudreau should be ruling. Lindholm was struggling with draws but we still ended up with possession. We keep losing possession on the boards or trying to go through players. Hanifin in first loss. Tkachuk and Backlund getting tripped. The OT against Toronto was good until we lost possession. I think we need guys that can win battles out there to start, then sub in on the possession. Kylington is very fluid and sees the ice well. Good passing mostly.

Oh, we have to be better than 42% on faceoffs. Monahan 60% Lindhlolm 24% Backlund 36% Richardson 60% Lindholm took the most draws, but Backlund, Monahan and Richardson each took about the same

I'm not going to go on an on about the game or the players. It happens. We have stretches where we hit the goalie or the post or miss a wide open net. Hart was good but not other worldly. Markstrom was more impressive in shot quality. We ain't winning games where we only score one. Waste of a clutch performance by Marky. The Toronto game was the same thing. Wasted chance.

Guess we have to get the starter back in net against Buffalo. Markstrom was flawless. The goal scored by Hayes was stupid lucky. The OT was misplayed by the D, even though he had no help. Take the guy without the puck.

The idea is to never lose possession. I would suggest that we put out two C's to start. One comes off when we gain possession. Don't waste Gaudreai if we lose the draw or get tossed. Tkachuk is not skating well enough to be out there in OT. Would use Backlund, Monahan, Lindholm, Gaudreau, Mangiapane, Kylington, Ras. Maybe Dube as well.

They played one less game. Still in 3rd place for now.

You need to stock being psychic. STOP THAT. Gaudreau on the boards is not a good battle when he;s fresh. Lindy in too deep and no legs, We have to re-think the OT. The guys we are using are getting burned. Hanifin, Tkachuk, Backlund.... It's not the player sometimes as much as the combos. Monahan + Hanifin - no Tkachuk + Hanifin - no

We keep getting burned by the rebound or pass. Stop cheating on the shooter. Markstrom has it. If he doesn't it's a perfect shot.

I think you need to use Gaudreau mid play, not at the start. We just can't seem to defend. Get beaten back to our end by 2 players.