For the third time in their last eight games, the Calgary Flames (23-17-5, 51 points) are going to be playing the Minnesota Wild (20-17-6, 46 points) tonight. This time it’s the lone meeting of the season at the palatial Scotiabank Saddledome. Can the Flames stretch their current winning streak to four games?
The action begins just after 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet Flames and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.
The Flames
Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Mangiapane – Lindholm – Tkachuk
Gaudreau – Monahan – Backlund
Lucic – Ryan – Dube
Rinaldo – Jankowski – Bennett
Gaudreau – Monahan – Backlund
Lucic – Ryan – Dube
Rinaldo – Jankowski – Bennett
Giordano – Brodie
Hanifin – Hamonic
Kylington – Andersson
Hanifin – Hamonic
Kylington – Andersson
Cam Talbot starts for the Flames, backed up by David Rittich. Today’s projected scratches are Michael Stone and Tobias Rieder. Despite the second period line shuffle resulting in a couple goals and some nice intensity, interim coach Geoff Ward has reverted back to the “standard” lines. That said, that could easily change if we see another flat start.
Since the calendar flipped over to 2020, the Flames are undefeated. Granted, it’s three games, but it’s something. The challenge for the Flames has been their starts. They haven’t played consistent hockey and they’ve had to scramble to get their wins. A more consistent 60 minutes of hockey that doesn’t require scrambling would be a great thing for the Flames to put together.
The Wild
Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Greenway – Staal – Zuccarello
Parise – Koivu – Fiala
Foligno – Eriksson Ek – Kunin
Donato – Rask – Hartman
Parise – Koivu – Fiala
Foligno – Eriksson Ek – Kunin
Donato – Rask – Hartman
Suter – Spurgeon
Brodin – Dumba
Hunt – Soucy
Brodin – Dumba
Hunt – Soucy
Alex Stalock starts for the Wild, backed up by Kaapo Kahkonen. (Devan Dubnyk has left the team to be with his family as his wife deals with health problems.) The extras right now are Nick Seeler and (Forever A Flame) Matt Bartkowski.
The Wild have been running in place for the last little bit, 4-5-1 over their past 10 games. They’re a well-coached, skilled team that just hasn’t clicked to the degree you would expect them to. Keep an eye on Joel Eriksson Ek, as he was superb for Minnesota a few days ago.
The Numbers
Flames | Wild | |
Wins | 23 | 20 |
Points | 51 | 46 |
Adjusted Corsi | 50.1% | 48.6% |
Power Play | 18.5% | 18.4% |
Penalty Kill | 82.5% | 76.2% |
Injury Report
The Flames are without D Juuso Valimaki (ACL surgery).
The Wild are missing F Jason Zucker (leg), D Greg Pateryn (hernia) and F Mason Shaw (knee).
When Last We Met
This is the third and final meeting of the season between these teams. They split their two earlier meetings.
Know Thy Enemy
Here are some key Twitter peeps to follow for tonight:
