^{It’s Tundra Time! Yes, I want the Delta Center to be known as the Tundra.}
Tonight is our home opener, and the celebration starts at 4PM at the Delta Center. We should expect live entertainment, giveaways, exclusive merchandise, and more out on the front concourse. Players are expected to arrive around 4:30 with a red – rather Mountain Blue – carpet entrance. Special surprise announcement at 7PM. I think it’s going to be a mascot reveal. Caveman? Mammoth? Yeti? Gritty West? We’ll find out tonight!

After a three game road trip with less than ideal results, a four game homestand is hopefully a remedy to cure all ills.

Calgary enters the game after a late night defeat at the hands of the Golden Knights. The Flames are in a similar situation to the Mammoth; they were inches away from a playoff spot last year, but have started the season off 1-3, winning their lone game against the Edmonton Oilers, on opening day, in a shootout.

This game should be a game to build momentum on. The Flames are averaging just over 2 goals a game, which bodes well for our improved defense and goalie tandem. More importantly, Calgary already has been averaging 4 goals against per game, matching only Tampa Bay and the Kings at the bottom of the league. Defense has been poor, and despite Dustin Wolf being arguable one of the top goaltenders in this league, they’ve been carved up by St. Louis, Vancouver, and Vegas their past few games.

Calgary has, for some unknown reason, already played a back to back the first two games of the season. Tonight’s their second in a week – an extremely odd situation this early in the year.

So, the stage is set. Playing a tired Calgary team, on the back half of a back to back, with a 1-3 record, almost guaranteed to be facing a backup goalie with 6 career games and a near 5.0 GAA (and .870 save percentage) gives Utah’s forwards no excuses to perform this game. Can a game be a must-win this early in the season?

Key points to secure a victory tonight:
Should I just copy and paste the past few games? The same factors still seem to apply…

Does this sound familiar? Convert on the Power Play! Calgary has given up 3 goals in 14 chances, about a 78% kill rate. They’re more disciplined so far than Chicago (who only had 3 PKs all game against us) so there may only be a couple of chances, at most, to score on the man advantage. If we have a chance, we have to convert it. Period.
Faceoffs have improved a little, and Calgary is another below 50% faceoff team. In order to pressure a backup goalie, and to take advantage of the Flames back to back, winning taking control of the puck quickly should prove extremely advantageous.
Clayton Keller has been quiet, and tonight needs to be a breakout game for the captain. Passes need to be crisper, the play needs to be driven a bit more, and the hunger to get more than 90 points this year needs to be on display. 4 shots on goal in 3 games isn’t going to cut it when he was averaging nearly 3 per game last year.

No new updates on injury report; O’Brien still day to day, Kerfoot still week to week, Valimaki and Durzi still out. Veggie between the pipes tonight.

Expected Lineup:

Game time 7:30 PM local, festivities start at 4.

TUSKS UP!