Canucks Vs Flames Pre Game

Canucks Vs Flames, CBC, TEAM 1040, 7:00PM PST

This should be a great game tonight and having a red hot Calgary Flames team coming into Rogers arena is exactly what the Canucks need. They've been playing kind of uninspired hockey lately, but we all know that that won't happen against the Flames. Recently the Canucks have had some very dominating games against Calgary. I don't expect that tonight because of how hot the Flames have been (8-0-2 in their last 10). I still think the Canucks will bring out their "A" game.

Obviously the injuries are starting to hit the Canuck's defense pretty hard with another dman going down. Hamhuis will be out of tonight's game. From what I saw from the game I expect Hamhuis to be back after the road trip. There are a number of reasons why I am making this prediction but it's to much to type out right now. I will review the Hamhuis situation in a couple of days when I get a chance. For now we can look forward to Salo getting back in the lineup. Av was talking about how he will try to keep Salo around 20 minutes tonight. This comes as a surprise to me as 20 minutes is quite a bit for his first game back. I am very interested and excited to see him back on the ice. Salo, when healthy, can be the Canuck's best dman and can lead this defense with solid shut down ability and a good shot.

The lineup has been shifted around tonight as we will see Tambellini, Malholtra and Hansen on the third line while Torres, Glass and Oreskovich will be the fourth line. I really like the theory of the fourth line. I think come playoff time Glass will shift over to the wing when the team finds another big center. Oreskovich gets his time with the big club tonight and he will need to use his size to bring a physical game tonight. Tambellini gives the third line a shot of energy and offense. Hopefully he can get Malholtra going.

Not many players are hotter than Luongo right now. He will get the nod tonight against the Flames and I expect him to have another great game. Hopefully he can keep his new mask on the shelf again tonight.

The top two lines need to be themselves tonight. The Twins can't take the first half of the game off like they did the other night against the Ducks. If they come out how they finished that game they should be able to take control of the Flames like they have done so often recently. I expect a lot of points from the SSB line tonight along with a good +/-.

Should be a good game as an old rivalry gets newed. Enjoy the game.

Twitter me @bmah03

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