Backlund and Monahan absent from Monday’s practice

The Calgary Flames returned to the practice ice after a successful three-game road trip. But they did so without a pair of their top forwards.

According to reports from practice, Mikael Backlund did hit the ice but left after a little bit – he had previously been absent from a practice during the road trip, but he played in every game. With those two key pieces absent, lines were a bit wonky but provide some clues for how things might look on Wednesday night:

Gaudreau – Jankowski – Lindholm
Tkachuk – Peluso – Frolik
Bennett – Ryan – Neal
Hathaway – Dube – Czarnik

Giordano – Brodie
Hanifin – Andersson
Valimaki – Stone

Mike Smith was in the starter’s net.

Reading the tea leaves, one would suspect that Mark Jankowski, Anthony Peluso and Dalton Prout are the most likely scratches on Wednesday night against Boston if everybody is healthy. With Michael Frolik presumably returning to the lineup, lines are a bit shuffled from how things ended on Saturday night.

Hamonic had his surgery about a week ago, so starting to skate is the beginning of the process that will eventually lead to his return to action.