The Rangers are looking to kick off the 2020 calendar year a little better than they ended the 2019 calendar year. That means actually showing up for the first two periods, and having a coaching staff that gets the guys ready to play. We can say anything we want about the players, system, execution, etc, but it doesn’t matter if no one shows up to, you know, play.
The Flames are in the playoff hunt, but are sporting a pretty rough goal differential right now. They don’t score much, and their goaltending isn’t overly impressive. That said, they are still a very capable team with a dangerous top six.