New Look Flames
Having found success with a newly formed line, the Calgary Flames go for a sweep of their home-and-home series with the Vancouver Canucks as the rivals meet at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
Flames coach Mike Keenan juggled his top line before Thursday’s game at Vancouver, putting captain Jarome Iginla with Michael Cammalleri and Matthew Lombardi. The dividends were immediate, as Cammalleri posted his first career hat trick – scoring two goals on one-timers off feeds from Iginla – in a 4-3 win.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Calgary -145 money line favorites (NHL Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 5.5 goals (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 73% of bets for this game have been placed on Calgary -145 (View NHL Bet Percentages).
"The best feeling about this is the win," said Cammalleri, who has seven goals and 16 points in 17 lifetime games against the Canucks. "Maybe we didn’t say it out loud, but we were all thinking we need to win these two games to get back to where we want to be and you can’t win them both if you don’t win the first one."
The hope is Iginla will be able to revitalize Cammalleri, who had scored just two goals in his previous 11 games. While Iginla did extend his point streak to five games, it may also serve as a jump-start for the captain against the Canucks (14-7-2), who held him without a point in sweeping a home-and-home series at the start of the season.
"He can get (his shot) off quick," said Iginla about Cammalleri. "(Coach) shifted the lines and as a group all our lines are looking better and developing chemistry."
Curtis Glencross snapped a 3-all tie with 6:31 left for the Flames (13-9-1), who have won four of their last five and are trying to win three straight for the first time since a six-game run from Oct. 21-Nov. 1.
The Canucks had their lead atop the Northwest reduced to three points as they failed to get at least one point for the first time in 11 games (8-1-2). Vancouver, which has gone 5-0-1 in its last six away from home and starts a seven-game road swing with this contest, feels it can bounce back by keeping things simple.
"They picked off a couple of pucks and made us pay tonight," said Canucks goalie Curtis Sanford, who is expected to make his fourth straight start in place of the injured Roberto Luongo. "And going on the road, we have to shore that up and get back to what we were doing when we were successful out there."
Daniel Sedin extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, while twin brother Henrik notched his 400th career point – two fewer than Daniel – assisting on it.
Vancouver went 0-for-4 on the power play Thursday, and is 1-for-18 in three games against Calgary this season.
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