Calgary Flames Game Day 10: Looking for a bounce-back against the Stars (6:30pm MT)

Riding a five-game losing streak, the Calgary Flames (2-6-1, 5 points) look to snap out of their funk as they return home from the 2023 Heritage Classic in Edmonton. But they’ll face a stiff test when they host the Dallas Stars (5-1-1, 11 points), one of the NHL’s top teams.

The broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

Huberdeau – Lindholm – Mangiapane
Hunt – Backlund – Coleman
Sharangovich – Kadri – Zary
Greer – Coronato – Duehr

Weegar – Andersson
Hanifin – Tanev
Zadorov – Gilbert

Jacob Markstrom is the projected starter, backed up by Dan Vladar. The projected healthy extra is Jordan Oesterle. Ruzicka remains out day-to-day with a shoulder injury, while Dillon Dube won’t play due to an unspecified injury of his own. Rasmus Andersson returns from his four-game suspension, while Connor Zary has been recalled from the AHL’s Wranglers and is expected to play.

Matt Coronato looks to line up as a centre for the first time in his young NHL career due to the absences of Dube and Ruzicka, and Sharangovich moving back to the wing. (Of the players who’ve been tried out at centre this season, Sharangovich has by far the worst face-off results.)

The Flames won twice in October, and they’ve lost their last five games and seven of their last eight outings. They haven’t been out-and-out bad in most of their games, but they’re a team with some flaws, and they’ve struggled mightily to score five-on-five this season and they’ve been too leaky defensively (due to many, many turnovers).

But the Flames could get a nice jolt of energy as Zary makes his NHL debut.

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

Robertson – Hintz – Pavelski
Benn – Johnston – Dadonov
Marchment – Duchene – Seguin
Dellandrea – Faksa – Smith

Joel Oettinger is projected to start in net for Dallas, backed up by Scott Wedgewood. Joel Hanley and Sam Steel are their projected extras.

The Stars have earned 11 of 14 possible points to start their season. They have a team that’s a nice blend of youth, skill and veteran poise. In short: they’re good, well-balanced, and poised to take a big step. They’re a big, big challenge for a Flames team that’s struggled to find consistency so far this season.

The Flames are without Oliver Kylington, Jakob Pelletier, Kevin Rooney, Adam Ruzicka and Dillon Dube.

The Stars are healthy.

This is the first of three meetings between these teams in 2023-24. They play in Dallas on Nov. 24 and finish off their season series in Calgary on Nov. 30.