The Calgary Flames returned to the practice ice after a successful three-game road trip. But they did so without a pair of their top forwards.
Monahan and Backlund both had maintenance days.
Monahan related to the shot he blocked on Saturday. Coach Peters says he hopes he’ll be able to play Wednesday but can’t say for sure. #Flames
— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) October 15, 2018
According to reports from practice, Mikael Backlund did hit the ice but left after a little bit – he had previously been absent from a practice during the road trip, but he played in every game. With those two key pieces absent, lines were a bit wonky but provide some clues for how things might look on Wednesday night:
Gaudreau – Jankowski – Lindholm
Tkachuk – Peluso – Frolik
Bennett – Ryan – Neal
Hathaway – Dube – Czarnik
Giordano – Brodie
Hanifin – Andersson
Valimaki – Stone
Mike Smith was in the starter’s net.
Reading the tea leaves, one would suspect that Mark Jankowski, Anthony Peluso and Dalton Prout are the most likely scratches on Wednesday night against Boston if everybody is healthy. With Michael Frolik presumably returning to the lineup, lines are a bit shuffled from how things ended on Saturday night.
Travis Hamonic skated on his own prior to practice this morning. Still recovering from the facial fracture he suffered on opening night. #Flames
— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) October 15, 2018
Hamonic had his surgery about a week ago, so starting to skate is the beginning of the process that will eventually lead to his return to action.
Silver lining would Janko getting a shot up top!
Fat chance of that happening going up against Bergeron. This should be a good test for the Flames. Boston is a tough team to play.
4 goal night for janko?
If Peluso is cantering the 2nd line on Wednesday I’m going to go postal.
Centering. Seriously are we ever going to get comment edits back, or should I just give up and go back to calgarypuck?
Call up Lazar or Graovac, if Peluso’s the only option on the roster.
I like cantering better…it is Peluso after all! 🙂
They weren’t calling anyone up for practice. Hardly worth getting to excited about this. If both are out they may call someone up. If it’s Monahan then give Janko a look there of all the centers his skill set and size is most like Monahan’s. If it’s Backlund put Janko in that spot. If they are both healthy then let Dube watch from the press box he did nothing in the last game.
Dube blocked a shot and may have a hairline fracture in his foot. Could explain his less than stellar speed. Still a very hard working forward! Only reason to sit would be to help heal his foot. Hope that it’s okay.
If Dube is injured then he should not be playing. In the last game he was the least noticeable forward. If Johnny can sit a game as a rookie Dube sure can too.
I really like Janko’s skill set (see his YouTube highlights package). That being said, the lack of apparent intensity and urgency is of increasing concern. I’d love to see him playing regularly with some combination of Bennett, Neal and Byng to see he could play with a much more consistent intensity. I continue to believe that he and Bennett are two of the keys to the ability of the team to get beyond the first round of the playoffs. In essence, I believe that you need significant contributions from unexpected sources.
I heard Backlund took a personal day to recover after reading WW’s numerous posts about him.
WW is my boy!
Not sure what tea you are drinking but having Janko on the top line as a place holder would hardly translate to a healthy scratch for Wednesday.