Carolina Hurricanes at Calgary Flames
October 23, 2014 - 9:00 pm ET
Scotiabank Saddledome - Calgary, AB
TV - Fox Sports South***
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan
SB Nation Rival Blog - Matchsticks and Gasoline
Fancy Stats
Hurricanes | Flames | |
Record | 0-3-2 | 4-3-1 |
Points | 2 | 9 |
Division Rank | 8th Metro | 4th Pacific |
Conference Rank | 15th EC | 6th WC |
Streak | Lost 1 | OT 1 |
Power Play % | 25.0% | 20.0% |
Penalty Kill % | 80.0% | 74.1% |
Goals/Game | 2.20 | 2.38 |
Goals Against/Game | 3.20 | 2.38 |
Shots/Game | 25 | 25.4 |
Shots Against/Game | 28.6 | 33.2 |
ES Goals For % | 33.3% | 56.5% |
ES Corsi For % | 49.3% | 41.6% |
PIM/Game | 12.2 | 10.1 |
Goaltender | Ward | Hiller |
Record | 0-1-1 | 2-2-0 |
ES Save Percentage | .842 | .961 |
GAA | 3.87 | 2.22 |
Goaltender | Khudobin | Ramo |
Record | 0-2-1 | 2-1-1 |
ES Save Percentage | .914 | .936 |
GAA | 2.64 | 2.20 |
Game Notes
- The Canes are in Alberta for back-to-back games with the Flames tonight and Oilers tomorrow night. This will fulfill two of the fourteen back-to-back scenarios the team will face this season.
- The Canes only dressed eleven natural forwards for the game against the Jets Tuesday night, but they recalled Brody Sutter from Charlotte yesterday to fill the 12th forward slot (press release follows below). After making his NHL debut a week ago at Madison Square Garden, Sutter will have the chance to come home to Alberta to play in front of his family.
- Speaking of coming home, there are a lot of Alberta connections in the Hurricanes organization. Here are just a few (let me know who I missed):
- Zack Boychuk, playing in his 100th NHL game tonight, hails from just up the road in Airdrie and played junior hockey for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
- Victor Rask makes his return to the Saddledome where he spent two years playing for the Calgary Hitmen.
- The aforementioned Brody Sutter, from nearby Viking, also played his junior years in Lethbridge.
- Just down the road from Calgary is the town of Three Hills, home of head coach Bill Peters, who had his first head coaching assignment at the University of Lethbridge.
- Goaltending coach David Marcoux spent six years as the goaltending coach for the Flames.
- Heading up the road toward tomorrow night's opponent, Riley Nash was born about halfway between Calgary and Edmonton in Consort, Alberta, and was a first round draft pick for the Oilers in 2007.
- Cam Ward grew up in the Sherwood Park suburb of Edmonton and played his junior hockey with the Red Deer Rebels.
- Assistant coach Steve Smith split time between the Flames and Oilers during his playing career, including three Stanley Cups with the Oilers (who he later coached) in 1987, 1998, and 1990.
- With that biography/geography lesson out of the way, there's not a lot new to report on the game tonight. Peters gave about a 45-second sound bite after yesterday's practice (audio) and there is no line-up information other than Sutter's call-up (Eric Staal was retro-moved to IR to free up a roster spot). John-Michael Liles is cleared to play so he could enter the line-up at the expense of one of the other healthy defensemen.
- No starting netminder has been announced. Going with the standard goalie rotation, the assumption might be Cam Ward to start tonight, but Peters may go with Khudobin again and give Ward the start tomorrow night in front of his home crowd in Edmonton.
- The Calgary Flames didn't finish with an impressive record last season (13th in the Western Conference), but they are a team on the rise. They don't boast a lot of star power but they have a reputation for being physical, hard-working, and one of the toughest opponents to play against.
- The Flames have a 7-1-1 winning record against the Canes in their last nine meetings. Calgary won both match-ups when the Canes played them last season, with Jeff Skinner the sole Hurricanes player to tally a goal.
- Average statistically in generating offense and on special teams, the Flames have been back-stopped by excellent goaltending from both Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo. Hiller will probably get the start tonight because it's his turn in the rotation.
- Mason Raymond leads the team in scoring with five goals and seven points. Defensemen TJ Brodie (who just re-upped for five more years with the Flames on Monday) and Mark Giordano have six points apiece. Rookie forward Johnny Gaudreau has three points in two games. Dennis Wideman leads all Flames skaters with 14 points in 27 career games against the Canes.
- The Flames have played two home games this season and lost both (one in overtime) so they will be looking for their first home win tonight.
Projected line-ups
Hurricanes (from Tuesday's game)
Injuries: Jordan Staal (IR broken fibula), Eric Staal (IR upper body), Patrick Dwyer (IR lower body), John-Michael Liles (DTD lower body), Nathan Gerbe (DTD lower body)
Flames (from Tuesday's game)
Injuries and Scratches: David Jones (IR), Brian McGrattan, Devin Setoguchi, Raphael Diaz
Brody Sutter Press Release
Canes Recall Brody Sutter from Charlotte
Eric Staal placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 11
Wednesday, 10.22.2014 / 5:00 PM / NewsBy Terrell WilliamsRALEIGH, NC – Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has recalled forward Brody Sutter from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was also announced that center Eric Staal has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 11.
Sutter, 23, made his NHL debut in Carolina’s 2-1 shootout loss against the New York Rangers on Oct. 16. The Viking, Alb., native is in his third full professional season and has played in all five of Charlotte’s games thus far this year, netting one goal. Sutter (6’5", 203 lbs.) notched eight goals and earned 20 assists (28 points) in 69 games with the Checkers in 2013-14, and has scored 13 goals and earned 22 assists in 101 career AHL games with Charlotte since turning professional. The Hurricanes drafted Sutter in the seventh round, 193rd overall, of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
*** Along with the late start, note the broadcast change for television coverage. Tonight's game will be on Fox Sports South (check here for the broadcast guide for Raleigh market providers). We'll have the game thread up by 9:00 pm. See you there.