Flames Game Day 20: A matinee in Washington, D.C. (noon MT, SNW/960)
By Ryan Pike
1 year agoWelcome to our game day content brought to you by NHL betting site Betway!
After more than a week, the Calgary Flames (9-7-3, 21 points) are on the verge of ending their longest road trip of the season. They finish it off with a pair of back-to-back matinee games on the east coast, beginning with a Black Friday contest against the Washington Capitals (8-10-3, 19 points). This game represents the one-quarter mark of the Flames’ 2022-23 schedule.
The broadcast begins at noon MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan!
The Flames
Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:
Ruzicka – Lindholm – Toffoli
Dube – Kadri – Mangiapane
Huberdeau – Backlund – Coleman
Lucic – Lewis – Ritchie
Dube – Kadri – Mangiapane
Huberdeau – Backlund – Coleman
Lucic – Lewis – Ritchie
Hanifin – Andersson
Zadorov – Weegar
Gilbert – Tanev
Zadorov – Weegar
Gilbert – Tanev
Based on reports from warm-ups, Jacob Markstrom starts, backed up by Dan Vladar. Connor Mackey and Kevin Rooney are the scratches, while Brett Ritchie returns from his minor injuries. Michael Stone is on the trip but remains on the injury reserve.
The Flames ground out a point in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, and ended up playing reasonably well given the circumstances. They’re trending in the right direction: they’re 2-1-1 on their road trip so far and have won four of their last six outings (4-1-1). They’re not completely playing their team game yet – their transition game is a bit clunky at times and their puck management needs some work – but they’re getting there.
The Capitals
Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:
Ovechkin – Strome – Sheary
Milano – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Johansson – Eller – Mantha
Protas – Dowd – Hathaway
Milano – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Johansson – Eller – Mantha
Protas – Dowd – Hathaway
Gustafsson – Carlson
Fehervary – Jensen
Irwn – van Riemsdyk
Fehervary – Jensen
Irwn – van Riemsdyk
We’re expecting Darcy Kuemper to start, backed up by Charlie Lindgren. The expected scratches are Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Joe Snively and Alexander Alexeyev.
The Capitals beat the Flyers in a shootout on Wednesday, snapping a four game losing streak. They’ve been pretty streaky lately, and have been dealing with missing a ton of their regular players. They’re 3-6-2 in November, definitely a disappointment considering some of the names on their roster.
Unavailable players
The Flames are without Oliver Kylington, Michael Stone and Brett Ritchie.
The Capitals are without Nicklas Backstrom, Carl Hagelin, Tom Wilson, Connor Brown and Dmitry Orlov.
The numbers
| Flames | Capitals | |
| 9 | Wins | 8 |
| 21 (.553) | Points (%) | 19 (.452) |
| 53.3 | xGF% | 48.2 |
| 19.7 | PP% | 19.5 |
| 81.7 | PK% | 79.7 |
Head to head
This is the first of two games between these clubs this season – they’ll meet again in eight days in Calgary. Last season the teams split their two games.
Social life
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