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Calgary Flames (8-12-4) at Anaheim Ducks (17-7-3), 1 pm
Matchsticks and Gasoline and Anaheim Calling for your Flaming C / Webbed D needs
Hey, everybody! Long time no blog!
First, a quick injury update -- Jer's status has improved to day-to-day. His symptoms have diminished, and he has resumed typing. In the meantime, Battle of California has relied on its organizational depth, and today even I've been temporarily pulled out of retirement and put on the job.
So happy Black Friday! Celebrate with an afternoon game so anticipated it even made a cameo in last week's Parks and Recreation:
Finally that TV deal with NBC is paying off! :)
Rather than focus only on the Flames and Ducks today, let's go a little broader and look at two segments of the recently-realigned Pacific Division:
- The "Old Pacific" -- teams that were already in the Pacific Division, then stayed in the division after realignment.
- The "New Pacific" -- teams that were added to the Pacific Division this season via realignment.
Fortunately, it's easy to separate these two groups using today's division standings:
One of the reasons why the Old Pacific sits atop the Pacific standings is that to this point, they've had almost no trouble taking two standings points from the New Pacific trio. Here's the collective record of the Old Pacific teams against each team from the New Pacific, along with goal differentials:
| Opponent | GP | Record | Win % | GF/g - GA/g | GD/g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs. Calgary | 5 | 4-1-0 | 0.800 | + 3.6 - 2.4 | + 1.2 |
| vs. Vancouver | 8 | 7-1-0 | 0.875 | + 3.1 - 1.6 | + 1.5 |
| vs. Edmonton | 3 | 3-0-0 | 1.000 | + 3.0 - 2.0 | + 1.0 |
| vs. New Pacific | 16 | 14-2-0 | 0.875 | + 3.2 - 1.9 | + 1.3 |
16 games played, 14 wins. An 0.875 win percentage!
Just for comparison's sake, the Old Pacific has a collective record of 3-0-2 against the worst team in the league – that’s only an .800 win percentage.
So, yeah. For the Sharks, Ducks, Kings, and Coyotes so far this season, the "New Pacific" has been easier to get two standings points from than the Buffalo Sabres.
Incidentally, the reason the Old Pacific doesn't have a perfect record against the New Pacific this season? Because the Sharks and Kings each lost a game. The reason the Old Pacific doesn't have a perfect record against the Sabres this season? Because the Sharks and Kings each lost a game.
Get it together, other BoC teams. :)
Prediction: It's been over a month since Calgary's last regulation win, so sure -- Ducks 4, Flames 2. Goals by Penner, Perry, Perreault, and Pahlsson Hampus. Old Pacific rules.
Go Ducks.
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