Saturday, November 7, 2009

Peepin' Foes: Calgary Flames

The Rangers are headed to the Red Mile Saturday night to face the Calgary Flames at 10pm on MSG Plus (stupid Knicks).

Where We Are: Playing one last road game before four days off, coming off of a power play-fueled win against the Oilers.

Where They Are: Impervious to the H1N1 flu. Oh, and as the winners of back-to-back one-goal games.

Who To Watch For: The classy captain Jarome Iginla may be the best all-around player in the NHL. Rene Bourque is riding shotgun and averaging more than a power per game while Ollie Jokinen has disappointed. Sloppy Seconds, Double-R and JayBow make the best top-three defensemen in the NHL (Phaneuf, Regehr, Bouwmeester) and they play in front of a pretty damn good goaltender - Miikka Kiprusoff. Even Kipper's backup has looked good, with Curtis McElhinney making 38 saves in Wednesday's win over Dallas.

What To Watch For: Freddie Sjostrom and Nigel Dawes to do their damnedest to score against their former team. Calgary's big three D to keep tight wraps on Gabby. Dane Byers, Ryan Callahan and Brian Boyle to attempt to match the physicality of the Flames. Iginla and Bourque to make mincemeat out of Redden and Rozy by powering to the net. Curtis Glencross and Mark Giordano also using their size to their advantage on both sides of the ice.

What We'll (Hopefully) See: Captain Clutch to snap out of his funk and start playing good hockey for the first time this season, if only because he is shamed by the Calgary captain's effort/skill/talent. Sean Avery to be Sean Avery, minus the inflammatory public comments that get him suspended. Another strong game by Hobey Gilroy. Eric Nystrom to not hurt the Rangers the way his dad used to. More of Ales Kotalik's booming slapshot. Chris Higgins' goal-scoring streak to continue. No Rangers having to tussle with the alcoholic goon Brian McGrattan, especially with Brash expected to be out nursing the emotional scarring from losing to Colton Orr. It is too bad, seeing as McGratton won both of their two meetings, including this doozy.

Also Check Out: The capital letter-challenged Hit The Post, the fantastic Five Hole Fanatics, SBN's Matchsticks & Gasoline and the uber popular Battle of Alberta.

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