Calgary Flames Game Day 35: Going Duck hunting in Anaheim (8:30pm MT, SN1/960)

The broadcast begins at 8:30 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 960 The Fan!

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

Dube – Lindholm – Toffoli
Huberdeau – Kadri – Lucic
Mangiapane – Backlund – Coleman
Lewis – Ruzicka – Ritchie

Hanifin – Andersson
Weegar – Tanev
Zadorov – Stone

We’re expecting Jacob Markstrom to start, after Dan Vladar played on Thursday in Los Angeles. Thursday’s extras were Matthew Phillips, Connor Mackey and Nick DeSimone. There’s no morning skate due to the back-to-back, so we’ll see what changes come about in warm-up.

Following Thursday’s game, Flames head coach Darryl Sutter noted that three lines and five defenders performed well against the Kings. Coincidentally, the Flames didn’t use Michael Stone, Trevor Lewis, Adam Ruzicka or Brett Ritchie a lot in the third period. (Stone was caught flat-footed on a Kevin Fiala chance that resulted in a penalty shot in the third period.)

Anyhow, the Flames have been playing some good hockey lately. In December, they’re 5-3-4 so far. You could make a very good case that their game is trending in the right direction, although some details – Jonathan Huberdeau arguably not shooting as often as he could be, for example – could be tidied up. Regardless, after struggling to find ways to get points out of good efforts, the Flames are finding ways to eke out wins and points in December. If they want to play into the back half of April, that’s a trend that needs to continue.

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

Zegras – Henrique – Terry
Vatrano – McTavish – Leason
Comtois – Strome – Silfverberg
Kirkland – Carrick – Megna

We’re projecting Lukas Dostal as starter, backed up by Olle Eriksson Ek. The lone healthy extra Duck is Urho Vaakanainen. John Gibson is on the active roster, but injured, and Colton White is in AHL on a conditioning stint.

The Ducks, like the Flames, are playing their third game in four days; they played a back-to-back Tuesday and Wednesday, and lost both games. When the Ducks are on their game they score in bunches. When they’re not, games can get away from them very quickly.

They are near the bottom of the NHL’s standings.

The Flames are without Oliver Kylington and Dennis Gilbert.

The Ducks are without Max Jones, Jamie Drysdale, Isac Lundestrom, Derek Grant, John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz.

This is the first of four games between these teams this season. The Flames won three of four against Anaheim last season (and their lone loss was in a shootout).

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