About the Flames - 3-25-09
A preview of the Flames.
When and where: 7:30 p.m. Mellon Arena.
TV: FSN Pittsburgh, NHL Network (U.S.) TSN, RIS.
Record: 42-24-6, 90 points. Calgary is in first place in the Northwest Division and third place in the Western Conference.
Leading Scorer: Jarome Iginla (right), 83 points (31 goals, 52 assists).
Last Game: 5-3 home win against the Red Wings, Monday. Mike Cammalleri had a goal and two assists for Calgary.
Last Game against the Penguins: 3-2 home shootout loss, Dec. 6, 2007. Petr Sykora and Kris Letang scored goals in the shootout.
Flames Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Iginla. We're not basing this pick on anything other than Iginla being one of our favorite players.
Ex-Flames on the Penguins: Jason Botterill, director of hockey administration; Eric Godard, RW.
Ex-Penguins on the Flames: Wayne Primeau, C; Andre Roy, RW; .
Useless Flames Trivia: Three former Penguins have served as the Flames' captain at one time. They are Bob Boughner, Keith McCreary and Jean Pronovost. McCreary and Pronovost captained the Flames when they were based in Atlanta.
Best Flames YouTube Video We Could Find: The Flames used to have a heck of a brass section:
Notes:
-Marc-Andre Fleury (30-17-6, 2.72 GAA, .911 SV%) and Miikka Kiprusoff (42-18-5, 2.86 GAA, .904 SV%) are the expected starters in net.
-Miikka Kiprusoff is the only goaltender in the NHL to account for all of his team's wins this season.
-The Penguins are still undecided on if or when they'll bring Phillippe Boucher back to the lineup.
-Dan Bylsma is still a work in progress.
-The Flames roll into Mellon Arena dinged up. Forwards Todd Bertuzzi (leg), Rene Bourque (ankle), Wayne Primeau (foot), Andre Roy (undisclosed) and defensemen Mark Giordano ("upper-body") and Rhett Warrener (shoulder) are all on injured reserve.
-Calgary forward Craig Conroy thinks Evgeni Malkin should win the Hart Trophy.
-Dustin Boyd has earned some time on the Flames' top line.
-The Flames have only won twice at Mellon/Civic Arena since 1989.
-One thing we love about the Flames' jerseys is how they actually pay tribute to their days in Atlanta through their alternate captains such as Robyn Regehr (right). The "A" on his jersey is actually the logo the Flames used when they called Atlanta home.
-Flames forward Daymond Langkow picked up his 600th and 601st career points in Tuesday's win against the Red Wings.
-With NHL Network carrying the game in the United States, you may not be able to watch the game through Center Ice or GameCenter. You might want to make some alternate plans.
-This will be the Penguins' last game against a Western Conference opponent this regular season.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 6:30 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photos: Iginla-Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images; Regehr-The Hockey News)