Though they’re cruising to a Pacific Division banner, the Calgary Flames could be in for a battle in the first round of the playoffs.
As it stands right now, the Flames would meet the Nashville Predators in the first round, a team that just beat them in a shootout on Tuesday night.
On Wednesday’s edition of "The Daily Faceoff Show," Frank Seravalli and Chris Gear discussed who has the edge in a possible Flames vs. Predators playoff series.
Seravalli: “Last night featured a potential first-round playoff preview as the Calgary Flames traveled to Nashville and wound up losing in a shootout to the Predators. Not a lot of time and space, it felt like a playoff game atmosphere and playing style.
What did you notice from that game on Tuesday night? And what does this mean for the Flames? They’ve had a great season, they’re going to win the Pacific Division and they’ve played well at both ends of the rink under Darryl Sutter, but they might be running into a team in the Nashville Predators who have been doing quite well. Should the Flames be worried?”
Gear: “I’ve been saying for a while that Nashville is going to be a tough out for any team. Juuse Saros is the kind of goalie who can steal you a game. What Roman Josi and Matt Duchene have done this year is incredible. It’s two guys who look like they’re on a mission. Filip Forsberg is always a great playoff performer.
Nashville can cause some damage here. I think that top to bottom Calgary is still the better team, but this series goes seven in my books easily, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see an upset.”
Seravalli: “You take a look at this lineup here, Tanner Jeannot, Colton Sissons, Yakov Trenin, and it’s like that line was born to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the way these guys play, their size, physicality, ability to score goals.
It’s going to be a fantastic matchup if that’s what it ends up being. It feels like it’s trending in that direction.
For the Flames, we’ve talked a lot this season about the Toronto Maple Leafs and some of these teams who really need to make some progress in the playoffs, but the Flames certainly fall in that category as well. They missed the playoffs last season, and they haven’t gone on a run with this core yet.”
Gear: “Darryl Sutter has done an incredible job getting that team to buy in to his system, but they’ve also got a lot of great scorers. Let’s not forget about Jacob Markstrom. We just talked about Juuse Saros, but Markstrom leads the league in shutouts. He’s been dominant at times this year.
They’re a well-constructed and well-coached team. The Predators will give them everything they can handle, but I do see Calgary coming out of this and being the top competitor for the Colorado Avalanche in the West.”
You can watch the full episode here…
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