Listen up all you armchair goalies and fantasy leaguers, we've got a powdered keg of a match coming up, with the Chicago Blackhawks up against Calgary Flames. Pull up a stool, let’s get into this.
Now the Blackhawks definitely pack a punch in the goalie department. Petr Mrazek with his 91.9% save-rate in the last month is a wall, and then there's Arvid Soderblom, who's practically a Swiss army knife in between the pipes, pulling a commendable 94.3% saves last month.
However, this isn’t a walk in the park folks, we head over to the Flames goalies and Dan Vladar’s 88% save-rate combined with Dustin Wolf’s 92.5% last month does suggest some sweat patches forming on Blackhawks attackers’ jerseys.
As for hotshots or should I say top shots? The Blackhawks have Teuvo Teravainen and Connor Bedard, each with a healthy dollop of goals and assists last month. Seth Jones is also chipping in with his fair share of goals and assists.
The Flames, though, are radiating some serious heat with Rasmus Andersson and Jonathan Huberdeau lamping in a bunch and setting up a couple last month. Martin Pospisil and Anthony Mantha also aren't cutting any corners on the rink.
Looking at historical dust-ups, these teams seem to love a tight game, with the balance tipped slightly toward the Blackhawks. Although as they say, yesterday's scores don't win today's games.
The Blackhawks started their regular season teeter-tottering with a 1-1-1 while the Flames fired up the ice going 3-0-0. Recent form speaks volumes too. Blackhawks have been up and down like a yo-yo and yes, Flames lost one, but their quality form should give them momentum.
Alright enough beating around the bush, the moment of truth - drumroll please.
Albert’s Prediction: Calgary Flames by 2