Its game day and the Calgary Flames will take on the New York Islanders tonight for their second of a three game road trip.

With a recent increased improvement in play from certain players and success which ensued, the Flames are 5-4-1 in their last ten games played and most, if not all, of their recent success has been at home. With that established, the last road win for the Flames was nearly a month ago against the Carolina Huricanes. In fact, the Flames have only won two games on the road in 2014 meaning they will really look forward to a W tonight.

That said, while the Flames have been struggling on the road this year(2nd worst in the NHL), the Islanders have been equally struggling at home (2nd worst in the NHL) and both teams will hope to improve upon these numbers as the year progresses, though some will argue that as long as the Flames win at home, that’s good enough for them. But I digress.

The Islanders who are also out of a playoff spot at the moment are trailing the 8th spot in the East by ten points and are struggling to put together wins of their own on a consistent basis. Currently holding a record of 8-12-8 at home, the Flames should look to take advantage of Tavares and the Islanders tonight.

For those of you who are against cheering for a rebuilding team, know this – they are in 28th place and there are ten points that separate them and the 25th place team at the moment. It’s going to be a battle for the bottom three spots this year between Edmonton, Calgary, and Buffalo, as I feel that the Panthers are likely to end up above the three.

With respect to the teams winning streak finally coming to an end, in addition to individual player’s point streaks, the team is trying to keep a positive outlook on this season and their wins/losses. With low expectations, the team has had the luxury of not answering to 25 reporters after being shutout by Montreal just a few days ago. That said, they are still held accountable and their coach won’t be accepting any excuses from anyone.

“It was a tough night, not like the last week at home,” Backlund said. “We can’t be too high when we win, or too low when we lose.”

Having his first start in quite some time against the Habs, Reto Berra looked much better than he displayed in previous games. And while we expected that the tender would need time to adjust, it seems that he’s struggling to find his groove or confidence after 25 games.

It will be interesting to see how he does tonight, as the organization felt they had a great option in net with Berra and I don’t get the impression that they’ve given up on him yet, despite being holding but 7 wins in 25 games this year – it’s a learning curve for a few of these guys, and the Flames can afford to be patient.

Kris Russell rejoined the team for practice on Tuesday and appears to be good to go for tonight’s game. For those who don’t follow me on Twitter, I commented that the team and Russell are currently in discussions regarding an extension, and further that “it’s not quite there yet, but very close….

Russell has certainly been one of the most impactful players for the Flames this year and will be very valuable to the Flames as a few of their younger defensive prospects make the transition to the NHL. As mentioned, it’s important to have the right balance of vets during a rebuild, and Russell is the epitome of this in my opinion.

Below are your expected lines for tonight’s game. There are no real changes since their game against the Canadiens, but I will comment that the Flames appear to be showcasing Lee Stempniak of late, given the interest he’s receiving in the trade market at the moment. He’s penciled in on the first line again with Backlund and Hudler.

With Stempniak’s experience and output so far with the Flames(23pts in 49gp), he might actually end up being the first player moved out of Calgary with teams like Detroit, LA, and the Pens looking for additional scoring/veteran presence for a playoff push. With his contract up this year and soon to be a UFA, Stempniak and the remainder of his $2.5M shouldn’t be very hard to move.

Paul Byron will center the 4th line tonight with Brian McGrattan and TJ Galiardi. Coach Bob Hartley appears to be giving more time to Lance Bouma and David Jones who have both been playing quite well of late. They are offering the type of hockey most would expect from their third lines, and are being rewarded as such.

Hudler – Backlund – Stempniak
Cammalleri – Monahan – Colborne
Bouma – Stajan – Jones
Galiardi – Byron – McGrattan

Brodie – Giordano
Russell – Butler
Smid – Wideman