NHL Preview Roundup (Part IV)
Continued from part III...
Detroit at Calgary (9.00 p.m. ET)
After getting a stunning defeat (7-2) against rival, Montreal Canadiens, the dominant Detroit Red Wings did hurt its reputation, but it will certainly try to make up for that loss against the feeble Calgary Flames on Tuesday at Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary,
Alberta, Canada.
The National Hockey League (NHL) Western Conference leader, Red Wings, has 67 points after 50 games and had seven straight games before being overpowered by Montreal.
Canadiens scored four goals in the first period, two in the second and one in the final whereas Red Wings managed its two goals in the final period.
After maintaining such an impressive run, no one expected Red Wings to get defeated, but that’s how this game goes.
Keeping this fact in mind, Red Wings will have to anticipate the same performance from another weak side.
Calgary has just 52 points after 50 games and is ranked 11th position in the Western Conference.
Out of last 13 games, Calgary has lost eight games.
Their recent loss came against the San Jose Sharks, who scored the only goal of the game in the final period to get the victory.
Flames’ winger, Mike Cammalleri, was disappointed over the team’s performance and said that:
"We've talked a lot about our assertiveness of late. It's the National Hockey League so you've always got to give credit to your opponent as well, but at the same time, we'd like to make things harder on our opponent."
Anaheim at Phoenix (9.00 p.m. ET)
The lowly Anaheim Ducks has been performing brilliantly of late, and one cannot ignore the possibility of another victory as the team travels to play against Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday at the Jobing.com Arena, Glendale, Arizona.
Anaheim is ranked at 13th spot in the NHL Western Conference with 43 points after playing 48 games.
However, despite being low ranked, the team has marvelled in its last 10 games, out which eight resulted in Anaheim’s favour.
Ducks’ got its five-game winning streak snapped against Dallas Stars, which scored the only goal of the game in the first quarter.
Ducks’ winter Corey Perry opined that the loss was a result of missed opportunities.
He commented after the game that:
"We had our chances but we didn't capitalise. We've worked our way up and we're battling to achieve our goal. So it's a tough way to lose."
Indeed it was a tough loss, but it can be compensated on Tuesday as Coyotes, which is ranked above Ducks, has not won two straight games this month.
The Coyotes lost two games at the start of this month before winning a game. They lost three more games before registering another victory, which was followed by three more failures.
Coyotes defeated Ottawa Senators (3-2) in the last game and if the team keeps on following the trend, another loss is imminent.
After the victory, Coyotes’ coach, Dave Tippett, was relieved to have a break. He said:
“These past two months have been as gruelling as I've seen and I've been a long time in the NHL. You could tell our players were worn out mentally and physically.”
Phoenix has 52 points after 50 games.
To be continued...
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