Calgary Flames Game Day 47: A matinee against the Lightning (1pm MT, CBC/SNW/960)

Photo credit:© Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

4 months ago

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After falling short on Wednesday against Colorado, the Calgary Flames (21-16-9, 51 points) get a second chance against a super-tough opponent on Saturday afternoon when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning (29-14-1, 59 points). The Lightning are a good hockey team that plays a consistent brand of hockey, while consistency is something the locals are aspiring towards 46 games into the season. No better time than the present to find it.

The broadcast begins at 1 p.m. MT on CBC, Sportsnet and Sportsnet 960 The Fan! It’s the early part of a triple-header for Hockey Day in Canada.

The Flames

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

Dube – Lindholm – Toffoli
Lucic – Kadri – Huberdeau
Mangiapane – Backlund – Coleman
Pelletier – Lewis – Duehr

Hanifin – Andersson
Weegar – Tanev
Zadorov – Stone

Dan Vladar starts for the Flames, backed up by Jacob Markstrom. The projected extras are Connor Mackey and Adam Ruzicka. The expectation is this will be Jakob Pelletier’s long-awaited NHL debut.

Pelletier’s insertion onto the fourth line looks to be the only real tinker, giving him an opportunity with some decent linemates and low expectations while sending the message to the other three lines that they have to come up with their own solutions. The Flames’ top nine were fairly sloppy against Colorado, and the entire team was fairly clunky in their own end.

If nothing else, the Flames just need to do the small things well and consistency will (probably) follow.

The Lightning

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

Stamkos – Point – Kucherov
Hagel – Cirelli – Killorn
Colton – Paul – Maroon
Namestnikov – Bellemare – Perry

Hedman – Bogosian
Cole – Cernak
Sergachev – Foote

We’re projecting Andrei Vasilevskiy to start in net, backed up by (Forever a Flame) Brian Elliott. Their extras are Nick Perbix and Haydn Fleury.

Tampa Bay lost to Edmonton on Thursday, and this is their third game in four days. They’re ambling along nicely and are relatively injury-free by their standards. Are they a world-beater right now? They’re not Boston-good, but they’re a really consistent team that tries to outwork the opposition and win by a goal or two. And they have the personnel to pull off that style.