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Calgary missing a lot of players in the offense

Anaheim had an excellent start of the season, just like Calgary. But, the away team are the weaker opponent, and four of their offensive players are out injured.

After the defeat in the first game of the season against Colorado, Anaheim won the following 4 matches (last two were at home). They are a well-balanced team and they are looking good both defensively and offensively. 

After winning against Rangers at home, they defeated Ottawa with ease. It was the 4th minute of the game when they took the 2-0 lead (Perry and Getzlaf) and the match was as good as over. Their former teammate Bobby Ryan scored for 2-1 but that is all we have seen from the away team. The Ducks completely dominated the rest of the game and with two more goals they have confirmed their victory. The fact they had 56 shots on goal says it all about their dominance that day.

They didn't perform good during powerplays, though. They had 6 powerplays and failed to score a single goal but, luckily for them, their offense was solid when playing 5-on-5 so there was no need to turn powerplays into goals. They had a man sent off only once in the whole game and that is something they should feel good about. They really stopped their opponent's offense with that kind of defensive game.

- That is the way we want to play. We want to have as many shots on goal as possible and then good things start to happen. Our results in the last few rounds are a solid proof for that - Corry Perry said.

Their offense really looks good right now. They score 18 goals in 5 games, but they will be missing Sourey and Ibisa today. Penner and Beleskey are slightly injured and it is still unknown will they be able to play.

Calgary had an unexpectedly good start of the season and they continued to perform good until this day. They are not among strongest teams in the league, and they have yet to build a solid team and find their style of play. Also, they have no big stars in the team nor players capable for winning matches all by themselves. But, they play as a team and because of that they won lots of points in the first couple of rounds.

They won 3 out of 5 games so far, but both of the defeats came in overtime. So, they won at least one point in each game they played and that is a fantastic record for them. After winning against Montreal at home, they won against the Devils and showed everyone they will be a tough nut to crack this year, especially when playing at home. Devils were in front two times, but great powerplay percentage (2/4) kept Calgary in the game. The game was tied late in the third period when rookie Sean Monahan scored for Calgary and won them three points.

- This is all pretty crazy. I grew up watching Martin Broudur making incredible saves, and now I scored against him. This is a fantastic day for me. Especially because that was a winning goal - Calgary her Sean Monahan said. The rookie is really looking good this season, and he has already scored 4 goals so far.

Their powerplay percentage is solid so far, but they are struggling a bit when having one man less on the ice. That is pretty much expected as they are not really strong defensively, but they will certainly look to improve their penalty killing percentage as sooner or later they will start losing games because of it. Calgary are really troubled with injuries. Four of their important forwards are out. Stajan, Cammalleri and Jones are definitely out whilst it is still unknown will Backlund be able to play. These absences might hurt their ambition in the offense today.

The bookmakers are overestimating Calgary a bit. They are really looking good this season, but they are certainly not favorites against Anaheim. Especially as four of their best forwards are out today. Without Cammalleri, Stajan and Jones (Backlund's appearance is still doubtful) they are a much weaker team. The Ducks tend to play good defense when playing at home, and they conceded only one goal in the last two rounds. Jets scored just two goals against them and that is another fact that speaks in favor of this bet. The reason I didn't choose to bet for the home team to win is very simple - Calgary might compensate for the absences with a solid teamwork. They did that couple of times this season, and they really showed character on couple of occasions. But, with that many forwards missing I don't believe they can score more than two goals against Ducks's very solid defense.