With President’s Trophy in sight, Vancouver Canucks face Calgary Flames – NHL Preview
The Vancouver Canucks have already qualified for the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs by topping the Northwest Division and they are now aiming to clinch the President’s Trophy by registering the most number of points in the league.
At the moment, Canucks are tied with the New York Rangers, who are leading the Eastern Conference, with 109 points. And if Canucks manage to win their next two games, they could receive another honour.
Canucks are already in a strong winning momentum and they are now going to face the Calgary Flames on Thursday, April 05, 2012, at Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The Flames have already been eliminated from the playoff contention and they are only hoping to end the season on a positive note.
Let’s take a look at both teams.
Canucks
Canucks are presently on a seven-game winning streak with the victories coming against Dallas Stars (2-1), Colorado Avalanche (3-2 in overtime), Los Angeles Kings (1-0), Avalanche (1-0), Stars (5-2), Flames (3-2 in overtime) and Anaheim Ducks (5-4 in shootout).
In their last game, Canucks rallied to score two goals that levelled the score and the game was later decided in the shootout.
Canucks’ coach, Alain Vigneault, said after the last victory:
"It was entertaining. It had, obviously, its moments, both offensively and defensively. I thought we made some real good plays offensively. I thought we made some uncharacteristic mistakes defensively from a couple of our guys that ended up in the back of
our net."
After playing against Flames, Canucks will face Edmonton Oilers in their last game of the regular season.
Flames
Flames are eliminated from the playoff contention and are ranked at 11th spot in the Western Conference with 86 points after 80 games.
Out of their last nine games, Flames have lost eight and are currently on a three-game losing streak with the defeats coming against Kings (3-0), Avalanche (4-1) and Canucks (3-2 in overtime).
Despite being eliminated, Flames are determined to give their best shot against Canucks. Their forward, Alex Tanguay, said:
"We still have a lot of pride and we still want to play. It was not the season we were looking for, but there are people here spending a lot of money to watch the game. We're going to try to put on the best show possible."
Predictions
Canucks have an edge.
The sum of goals scored by both teams might stay under six.
If Flames win, the winning margin will be less than two goals.
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