Pre-Season FGD: Going to Winnipeg (6pm MT, Flames.com stream)
By Ryan Pike
2 years agoTonight, it’s the seventh of eight Calgary Flames pre-season contests! This time, they’re facing the Winnipeg Jets in the recently renamed Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg.
The game gets going just after 6 p.m. MT and the action can be seen via a stream on the Flames website and heard on Sportsnet 960 The Fan!
The Flames
Lines for tonight, via Derek Willis:
Tkachuk – Lindholm – Coleman
Mangiapane – Dube – Ritchie
Richardson – Backlund – Lewis
Lucic – Gawdin – Duehr
Mangiapane – Dube – Ritchie
Richardson – Backlund – Lewis
Lucic – Gawdin – Duehr
Hanifin – Andersson
Zadorov – Tanev
Kylington – Gudbranson
Zadorov – Tanev
Kylington – Gudbranson
Daniel Vladar starts, backed up by Jacob Markstrom. Not dressed tonight are Connor Mackey, Juuso Valimaki, Johnny Gaudreau (precautionary), Tyler Pitlick (injured), Sean Monahan, Michael Stone, Adam Werner, Byron Froese, Connor Zary (injured), Justin Kirkland and Johannes Kinnvall (injured).
It’s probably reasonable to expect the Flames to dress their Game 1 lineup in Friday’s exhibition finale, so it’s also probably reasonable to assume that this could be the last push for jobs (or recalls) for a few players on the bubble. So it’ll be interesting to see what Brett Ritchie, Glenn Gawdin and Walker Duehr can do. And the six defenders dressed tonight could be the six guys who begin the season, so keep an eye on how they do against the Jets mostly-NHL lineup.
The Jets
Projected lines via Ken Wiebe:
Connor – Stastny – Wheeler
Copp – Dubois – Ehlers
Harkins – Lowry – Vesalainen
Toninato – Nash – Svechnikov
Copp – Dubois – Ehlers
Harkins – Lowry – Vesalainen
Toninato – Nash – Svechnikov
Morrissey – Schmidt
Dillon – Pionk
Beaulieu – DeMelo
Dillon – Pionk
Beaulieu – DeMelo
Connor Hellebuyck starts in goal, backed up by Eric Comrie. Mark Scheifele is out tonight, primarily to give the Jets a preview of how they’ll line up in their opener – he’ll miss a game with a suspension.
Players to watch
Three guys will likely be trying to make statements against Winnipeg.
- Oliver Kylington has been excellent in camp and will be pushing for a full-time gig and a spot in the line-up on opening night.
- Ditto for Glenn Gawdin, who has been distinctly less flashy than Kylington but equally effective. He’s vying to be fourth line centre, potentially pushing Brad Richardson to the wing (or the press box).
- Walker Duehr probably won’t open the season with the big club, but he seems destined to be the first right-shot call-up in the event a forward goes down with an injury or illness.
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