Flames vs. Blackhawks playoff preview

by Dirk Hoag on Apr 15, 2009 3:38 PM EDT Comment 0 comments

The Blogs

Matchsticks & Gasoline vs. Second City Hockey

The #4 vs. #5 matchup in the West pits Calgary against Chicago.

The Storyline

Chicago has been the feel-good hit of the NHL season, from their on-ice resurgence to the Winter Classic, to the mind-blowing attendance increase driven by an exciting team. How long can the party keep rolling? The Flames, meanwhile, acquired star center Olli Jokinen at the trade deadline; how will he perform in his first-ever playoff appearance?

The Numbers

	Calgary		Chicago
Record	46-30-6	10th	46-24-12	6th
Pts %	.598	10th	.634	6th
Goals For/Game	3.06	7th	3.17	4th
Goals Against/Game	3.00	23rd	2.55	5th
5-on-5 GF/GA	1.04	13th	1.18	5th
PP%	17.0	20th	19.3	11th
PK%	83.4	4th	80.6	17th
Shots/Game	32.2	8th	32.7	5th
Shots Against/Game	29.8	16th	28.6	8th
FO %	51.3	8th	48.1	22nd

This would appear to be a relatively even affair compared to many series, but an argument was made over at Bird Watchers Anonymous that the Flames beat up on the lesser teams, while struggling against playoff-caliber competition. The Blackhawks had more consistent performance.

Goaltending

Calgary

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2008 - Miikka Kiprusoff	76	4418	45	24	5	3	209	2.84	2155	1946	.903	4

Chicago

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2008 - Cristobal Huet	41	2351	20	15	4	5	99	2.53	1087	988	.909	3
2008 - Nikolai Khabibulin	42	2467	25	8	7	1	96	2.33	1192	1096	.919	3

Most people predicted that having two #1 goalies (at least in terms of salary) on the roster would present a huge issue in Chicago, but in the end, they've gotten decent production out of each. Certainly the Bulin Wall has been more forbidding this year than at any time since his Cup run with Tampa Bay in 2004.

Penalties

No OtF preview would be complete without a look at Penalty Plus/Minus, to see which players will head to, or send other players to, the box:

Calgary	Penalties Drawn			Chicago	Penalties Drawn
Player	Draws	Fouls	Pen +/-	Player	Draws	Fouls	Pen +/-
Jarome Iginla	49	14	+35	Ben Eager	33	45	-12
Dion Phaneuf	46	36	+10	Patrick Kane	32	19	+13
Craig Conroy	27	14	+13	Dustin Byfuglien	31	29	+2
Mike Cammalleri	27	17	+10	Jonathan Toews	29	23	+6
Todd Bertuzzi	25	34	-9	Dave Bolland	28	21	+7
Curtis Glencross	24	18	+6	Kris Versteeg	27	14	+13
	Penalties Taken				Penalties Taken
Corey Sarich	20	41	-21	Ben Eager	33	45	-12
Dion Phaneuf	46	36	+10	Dustin Byfuglien	31	29	+2
Todd Bertuzzi	25	34	-9	Brent Seabrook	16	28	-12
Olli Jokinen	19	31	-12	Matt Walker	16	26	-10
Robin Regehr	15	31	-16	Duncan Keith	8	26	-18
Adam Pardy	12	28	-16	Adam Burish	25	24	+1

Jarome Iginla finished 2nd in this year's Penalty Plus/Minus standings, a valuable contribution above and beyond the point-per-game production that he already brings. At least this guy doesn't complain about the Calgary captain: