The Chicago Blackhawks may have raised some eyebrows when they fired coach Denis Savard four games into the season and replaced him with Joel Quenneville.
The move, though, appears to be paying off handsomely.
The surging Blackhawks look to extend their longest winning streak in nearly seven years on Friday night when they meet the Calgary Flames.
Chicago (16-6-7) opened a three-game swing through western Canada with a 9-2 rout of Edmonton on Tuesday for its fifth straight victory. Troy Brouwer had two goals and an assist and reigning Calder Trophy winner Patrick Kane added a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who are 6-0-1 this month after closing November with a three-game skid.
"We really wanted to come out and have a good first game on the road because we have three here before Christmas," Brouwer said after his first career multigoal game. "Just get the first one out here and get on a roll for the next two."
Chicago, which ends its road trip on Saturday in Vancouver, is riding its longest win streak since winning six in a row from Dec. 26, 2001-Jan. 6, 2002. That run came during the last season in which the team made the playoffs.
Quenneville took over for Savard after the Blackhawks got off to a 1-2-1 start. Since then, Chicago has gone 15-4-6, and is posing a legitimate challenge to Stanley Cup champion Detroit in the Central Division.
"It's been a fun little run we're on right now," said Quenneville, whose team has scored 33 goals over the last seven games.
Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 31 shots against Edmonton, and could make his second straight start in this game. He's won his last three starts in Calgary, improving to 13-3-0 with a 2.05 goals-against average in his career there.
Andrew Ladd, who had two assists against the Oilers, is the Blackhawks' leading scorer this month with three goals and eight assists. Ladd has 19 points this season, and has never had more than 30 since breaking in as a rookie in 2005 with Carolina.
The Blackhawks have won three straight in Calgary, and defeated the Flames 6-1 on Nov. 9 at Chicago in the only meeting this season. Kane and Martin Havlat each had a goal and two assists in that game.
With this contest, the Flames (18-11-3) begin a season-high five-game homestand that will carry them through New Year's Eve.
Calgary returns to Pengrowth Saddledome after sweeping a two-game road trip. The Flames beat St. Louis 6-3 on Tuesday before posting a 3-2 overtime victory against Minnesota on Wednesday. Todd Bertuzzi's tally 3:48 into the extra period off a feed from Daymond Langkow snapped a 20-game goal-scoring drought.
"It was a good veteran move by Daymond Langkow," said Bertuzzi, who had not scored since Nov. 2. "He made a smart play, dove for it, got it over, and that's obviously a nice two points to go home with." Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 25 shots to improve to 7-2-1 with a 2.17 GAA in his last 10 starts. However, he tied a season high by allowing six goals versus Chicago last month. Jarome Iginla failed to record a point against the Wild after tying a career high with four in the win over the Blues. The Flames captain leads the team with 16 goals and 21 assists, but has one point in his last four games against the Blackhawks.
Playing at Pengrowth Saddledome had been an advantage for the Calgary Flames earlier this season, but the venue hasn't been nearly as kind lately.
The Flames look to avoid their first four-game home losing streak in over six years on Tuesday night when they match up against an Anaheim Ducks team that hasn't fared well on the road lately.
After winning nine of its first 13 contests (9-3-1) at Pengrowth Saddledome through the first two months of 2008-09, Calgary has stumbled to an 0-1-2 mark there. The team opened its season-high five-game homestand with a 3-2 loss to Chicago on Friday. Rene Bourque had a goal and an assist, but the Flames (18-11-4) faltered on all four of their power-play chances to fall to 0-for-10 in those situations over their last three home games.
"We had a lot a chances to finish - I myself had a few chances - in the third, but we didn't finish," said Bourque, who has three goals and two assists in his last four games.
It was Calgary's fourth loss in its last six contests (2-1-3), putting the Flames in jeopardy of their first four-game home skid since Nov. 14-21, 2002.
Calgary has won eight of its last 10 home games against Anaheim, but has lost six of the last eight overall meetings. The Ducks have won three straight in the series, including a 3-2 home victory on Nov. 2.
Anaheim (18-13-3) is coming off a 4-3 loss at Vancouver on Monday as Bobby Ryan had a goal and two assists in defeat. Ryan has been moved up to the team's top line in place of Teemu Selanne, who is expected to miss at least four weeks with a lacerated thigh.
"I didn't think we really engaged in the hockey game emotionally until the third period," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "And then we got desperate and started to play more of the type of hockey that is required to have success on the road."
Carlyle's club is 8-6-1 on the road, losing four of five away contests in December.
For the Ducks to have success on the remainder on their five-game swing, they'll have to improve their discipline. Anaheim was whistled for nine infractions Monday after taking a season-high 10 in a shootout win at Edmonton on Friday.
Opponents are 8-for-46 in power-play opportunities against the Ducks over their last eight games.
"The flow, when you are going to the box one after another, is tough because you are wearing out certain guys and others aren't getting on the ice at all," said captain Scott Niedermayer, who had a goal and an assist Monday.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere is expected in net for the Ducks. He has allowed only nine goals on 156 shots in winning four of his last five starts. Giguere is 8-2-0 with a 1.79 goals-against average in his last 11 starts versus the Flames.
Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff has a 1.44 GAA in winning seven of eight against the Ducks at Pengrowth Saddledome.
Flames captain Jarome Iginla - the third-leading scorer in franchise history - recorded his 800th career NHL point with an assist Friday. He leads the Flames with 16 goals and 22 assists, and has 21 goals and 39 points in 45 lifetime matchups versus the Ducks.
San Jose coach Todd McLellan doesn't expect the Sharks to be perfect, but he doesn't want to see too many repeats of his team's latest effort.
The NHL-leading Sharks look for a more complete performance Tuesday night when they open a three-game road trip against the Calgary Flames in a matchup of division leaders.Since winning a season-high nine straight from Nov. 13-Dec. 4, San Jose (29-4-5) has cooled off somewhat, going 7-1-4 and alternating wins and losses in its last four games.
In Saturday's 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders, Mike Grier scored twice - his first two-goal game since Jan. 4, 2007 - as the Sharks improved to 19-0-2 at home. The win, however, was less than satisfying for San Jose's coach.
The Sharks held a three-goal lead in the third period, but New York cut the deficit to 4-3 with 1:03 left before Patrick Marleau scored his 19th goal of the season into an empty net with 10 seconds remaining.
"It's unacceptable that we were up 4-1 with about 3 minutes left in the game and on the power play and we give them a short-handed goal," McLellan said. "We have a lot of learning to do as a hockey club, learning how to win. ... It's been creeping into our game a little bit. It's something we have to work on."
San Jose earned at least a point for the sixth straight game (4-0-2). With 63 points, it's one ahead of Boston for the top record in the league.
To maintain that standing, San Jose needs to improve its play away from home. All four of its regulation losses have come on the road, where it's 10-4-3 on the season.
The Sharks have gone 1-1-3 away from HP Pavilion following a season-high five-game road winning streak from Nov. 16-Dec. 15. They're 2-7-0 with a tie in their last 10 trips to Calgary.
Since San Jose won 6-1 at home over the Flames on Nov. 13, Calgary has gone 14-4-3 to move atop the competitive Northwest Division.
The Flames (23-12-4) had won five in a row and had earned points in 10 straight before a 5-2 loss at Chicago on Sunday. The defeat was their first in regulation since falling 4-1 at Montreal on Dec. 9.
"Anytime you've been winning - and we've been moving along pretty well - a loss is hard to swallow," said Flames captain Jarome Iginla, who leads the team with 18 goals and 28 assists.
Calgary will try to bounce back in the opener of a three-game homestand. It's won a season-high four straight at the Pengrowth Saddledome, its longest run there since an eight-game win streak from Jan. 4-Feb. 3, 2007. Miikka Kiprusoff has gone 13-4-3 with a 2.74 goals-against average while playing all 20 of the Flames' home games. The league leader with 23 victories, Kiprusoff made his 10th consecutive start Sunday, allowing four goals on 28 shots before Curtis McElhinney came in for the third period and stopped all seven shots he faced.
Former Shark Kiprusoff is 8-6-1 with a 2.98 GAA in 15 games versus San Jose.
Joe Thornton leads San Jose with 37 assists and 46 points, and has a goal and 10 assists during a six-game point streak.
The Sharks' Evgeni Nabokov - second in the NHL with 21 wins - has posted a 3.86 GAA in losing his last three games against the Flames. He didn't face them in November.
Domination so far by the Flames after 1 period. score is 3-0. Shots are 16-4 (which 2 of those Sharks shots were floaters on bad angles which had no chance). scoring chances are 12-2. Calgary has had 5 odd man rushes and San Jose has had 6 icing calls against them already. The Flames are winning almost every battle at every area of the ice and are making the Sharks look bad. I expect the Sharks to come hard in the 2nd, but if Calgary can just stick to their game they've got this one in the bag.
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Praise the Red, The Oilers are dead
The Calgary Flames have been one of the NHL's hottest teams over the last month. Their run started with a win over the St. Louis Blues.
Given their history against the Blues at home, the Flames appear to have a good chance to continue their stellar play in Tuesday's game at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
Calgary (25-12-4) is looking for its third straight victory and 10th in the last 12 games. The Flames are also seeking their sixth straight home win over St. Louis (16-22-5), and are 14-1-1 overall in their last 16 matchups with the Blues.
Calgary has surged into the Northwest Division lead with its current 9-1-1 stretch. The only two losses in that span have come to Chicago - an overtime loss at home Dec. 19 and a 5-2 road defeat Jan. 4, which stands as the Flames' only regulation loss in their last 13 games. Their last loss at the Saddledome in regulation was a 3-1 defeat to Dallas on Dec. 2.
A 6-3 win Dec. 16 in St. Louis ended a three-game losing streak for Calgary and seemed to ignite a lagging offense. Starting with that win, the Flames have averaged 4.0 goals per contest, after averaging 2.9 during the season's first 30 games.
"We obviously struggled a little bit at the start of the year but we changed some things and everyone has bought in and we've gotten better as the season's progressed," center Daymond Langkow said.
No Calgary player is hotter right now than Langkow, with a four-game goal-scoring streak and a point in seven straight games. He had a season-high three points - one goal, two assists - in Thursday's 5-2 home victory over the New York Islanders.
"Langks has obviously been on a tear and it's not lucky, it's not fortunate, he's a good hockey player," said Michael Cammalleri, who added a goal and an assist in Thursday's win. "He's making a lot of very good plays right now and that's why the puck's going in for him."
While Langkow has 12 goals and 23 points in 32 career games against St. Louis, Flames leading scorer Jarome Iginla has proved a bigger pain for the Blues.
Iginla, who has 18 goals and 47 points this season, has 13 points in the last four meetings with St. Louis, including two goals and two assists in the Dec. 16 win. He also scored a third-period goal and assisted on Cammalleri's game-winner in a 4-3 overtime victory Dec. 5 in St. Louis
The Blues' previous loss to Calgary was only part of their current miserable stretch of 11 losses in 15 games. St. Louis seemed to be snapping out of its funk last week when it totaled 11 goals in consecutive wins over Columbus and at Vancouver, but that momentum ended Sunday with a 2-1 loss at Edmonton.
"That definitely wasn't a good effort," said forward Jay McClement, who assisted on Yan Stastny's second-period score. "It's disappointing after we made strides and we played well two nights ago (a 6-4 win over the Canucks). I think it's unacceptable."
Vaandermeer's back in the line-up tonight, likely playing forward in the place of Bertuzzi. I'm really hope him and Pardy try and battle it out for top 6 defencive placing.
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"I've got to go play some hockey. I'm a hockey player. I'm okay. No big deal."- Brendan Witt (after getting hit by a car)
Victories have come in bunches for the league-leading San Jose Sharks all season. The Calgary Flames have recently begun to pick up on a similar trend.
The streaking Sharks, still without a regulation loss at HP Pavilion in 2008-09, continue a four-game homestand Thursday night when they face the Northwest Division-leading Flames, winners of three straight.
Consistency has been a key in keeping San Jose (32-5-5) atop the standings - it currently holds a one-point edge on Eastern Conference-leading Boston (68 points) for the best record in the NHL - but the biggest factor has been absolutely dominating play at home.The Sharks are an almost unimaginable 20-0-2 at the HP Pavilion and have collected at least one point there in 31 consecutive regular-season games. They haven't dropped a regulation decision at home since losing to Edmonton last Feb. 14.
San Jose kept that streak intact Tuesday night, opening the homestand with a 7-1 victory over road-weary Tampa Bay. Six players finished with at least two points, Joe Thornton provided two goals and an assist, and Milan Michalek finished with a goal and two assists for the Sharks, who held a four-goal lead after two periods en route to their third straight win.
"After three goals, we said let's get a fourth, fifth and sixth. No lead is safe in this league," Thornton - the Sharks' leader with 41 assists and 52 points - told the team's official Web site.
San Jose will play six of its next seven games at home, with a matchup against Central-leading Detroit set for Saturday.
But before facing the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Sharks take on the surging Flames (26-12-4), winners of four of the teams' last five meetings. San Jose routed Calgary 6-1 at home Nov. 13, but fell 5-2 on the road Jan. 6.
Just over a month ago, Calgary trailed first-place Vancouver by two points. But in winning 10 of 12 games (10-1-1) since Dec. 16, it now owns a seven-point advantage over the Canucks in the Northwest.
Like the Sharks, the Flames have been tough to beat at home, securing a seventh straight victory there Tuesday night, 3-1 against St. Louis as Michael Cammalleri scored two goals for their third straight win overall.
"We're using (the standings) as a source of motivation right now to keep our focus and keep on improving," said Cammalleri, second on the team with 17 goals and 38 points. "We're well aware of the spread right now and the games in hand and what's going on with Vancouver in our division and we'd love to keep this roll more
I have been looking forward to this game all week. I'm sure both Todd McLellan and Mike Keenan are both trying to make an example out of this game as a playoff practice game. I really wouldn't be surprised if its 0-0 after the first and posibly the 2nd too.
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"I've got to go play some hockey. I'm a hockey player. I'm okay. No big deal."- Brendan Witt (after getting hit by a car)
Flames Game Day Talk 2008-09
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