A few days after their clash in Calgary on Saturday night, the Calgary Flames (31-16-4, 68 points) have a rematch against the Minnesota Wild (31-16-3, 65 points) in a match-up of two very similar teams. The Flames won 7-3 on Saturday, but both teams has aspects of their games that they wanted to improve. Can the Flames make a clean sweep of the home-and-home set and hit 70 points for the season?
The puck drops just after 6 p.m. MT. Catch all the action on Sportsnet West or Sportsnet 960 The Fan!
The Flames
Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:
@Johnny Gaudreau – @Elias Lindholm – @Matthew Tkachuk
@Blake Coleman – @Mikael Backlund – @Andrew Mangiapane
@Milan Lucic – @Sean Monahan – @Tyler Toffoli
@Trevor Lewis – @Brad Richardson – @Brett Ritchie
@Blake Coleman – @Mikael Backlund – @Andrew Mangiapane
@Milan Lucic – @Sean Monahan – @Tyler Toffoli
@Trevor Lewis – @Brad Richardson – @Brett Ritchie
@Noah Hanifin – @Rasmus Andersson
@Oliver Kylington – @Chris Tanev
@Nikita Zadorov – @Erik Gudbranson
@Oliver Kylington – @Chris Tanev
@Nikita Zadorov – @Erik Gudbranson
@Jacob Markstrom is expected to start for the Flames, backed up by @Daniel Vladar. The Flames’ extras appear to be @Dillon Dube, @Adam Ruzicka and @Brad Richardson. Don’t expect any changes from a Flames group that won on Saturday.
Good news, everybody! @Oliver Kylington is not only alive and well following that scary crash into the boards on Saturday, but he’s also expected to play. It’s great news for a player that’s enjoying a breakout year, and for a Flames club that really relies upon him in a lot of key situations.
The Flames won on Saturday, which is good, but they gave up three goals, which they feel is bad. Several players noted they had a lull in the third period, resulting in two Wild goals late in the game. They’ll be trying to play a more buttoned-up 60 minutes this evening.
The Wild
Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:
@Kirill Kaprizov – @Ryan Hartman – @Mats Zuccarello
@Kevin Fiala – @Frederick Gaudreau – @Matthew Boldy
@Brandon Duhaime – @Joel Eriksson Ek – @Marcus Foligno
@Nico Sturm – @Connor Dewar – @Nick Bjugstad
@Kevin Fiala – @Frederick Gaudreau – @Matthew Boldy
@Brandon Duhaime – @Joel Eriksson Ek – @Marcus Foligno
@Nico Sturm – @Connor Dewar – @Nick Bjugstad
@Alex Goligoski – @Jared Spurgeon
@Jonas Brodin – @Dmitry Kulikov
@Jon Merrill – @Jamie Benn
@Jonas Brodin – @Dmitry Kulikov
@Jon Merrill – @Jamie Benn
@Cam Talbot is expected to start for the Wild, backed up by @Kaapo Kahkonen (who started on Saturday). Their projected extras are @Mason Shaw and @Calen Addison. @Jordan Greenway is expected to miss this game with a minor injury (as he did on Saturday), but he remains on the active roster right now.
Via The Athletic’s Michael Russo, Wild head coach Dean Evason thought his team wasn’t good against the Flames on Saturday.
Evason on playing Calgary: “That’s the team that outgritted is, that’s the team that outhit us, that’s the team that outplayed us, that’s the team that embarrassed us, so there better be some learning experience.”
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 28, 2022
The Wild will be a grumpy bunch playing back in their home building after losing three of four games on their latest road trip. They’ve also lost five of their last six outings and really want to turn things around before their somewhat comfortable spot in the Central Division playoff picture slips away. Expect a tight-checking, physical game this evening.
The numbers
Calgary | Minnesota | |
Wins | 30 | 31 |
Points (%) | 68 (.667) | 65 (.650) |
Adjusted Corsi For | 57.5% | 51.0% |
Expected Goals For | 56.1% | 51.2% |
Power Play | 22.3% | 20.0% |
Penalty Kill | 84.5% | 78.7% |
Unfit to play
The Flames are healthy.
The Wild are without Matt Dumba and Jordan Greenway.
When last we met
These teams played on Saturday. The Flames won by a 7-3 score.
Know thy enemy
Your recommended Twitter follows for tonight’s contest:
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