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Riding a season-opening win streak that’s equal parts impressive and improbable, the Calgary Flames (3-0-0, 6 points) begin their week welcoming the Chicago Blackhawks (1-1-1, 3 points) to town. Both Calgary and Chicago are coming off road victories over the Edmonton Oilers and are teams that hope to surprise opponents this season. Can the Flames keep the good times rolling at home?
Tonight’s broadcast begins at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. It’s the debut game for new Sportsnet TV play-by-play voice Jon Abbott!
The Flames
Here are morning skate lines via Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg:
Sam Honzek – Nazem Kadri – Andrei Kuzmenko
Jonathan Huberdeau – Martin Pospisil – Anthony Mantha
Connor Zary – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman
Ryan Lomberg – Justin Kirkland – Matt Coronato
Jonathan Huberdeau – Martin Pospisil – Anthony Mantha
Connor Zary – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman
Ryan Lomberg – Justin Kirkland – Matt Coronato
MacKenzie Weegar – Daniil Miromanov
Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal
Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal
Based on morning skate reports, Dustin Wolf is expected to start with Dan Vladar backing him up. The projected extra skaters are Joel Hanley, Tyson Barrie and Adam Klapka. Matt Coronato sticks in the lineup after looking strong on the fourth line in Edmonton.
The Flames have won three games, with two of their wins coming against pretty strong teams in Vancouver and Edmonton. They haven’t played perfect 60 minute efforts as of yet, but they’re finding ways to win. And if they can stay out of the penalty box and roll their lines and pairings, perhaps they can continue to find ways to win early this season.
The Blackhawks
Here are lines from Sunday’s practice via Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times:
Nick Foligno – Connor Bedard – Teuvo Teravainen
Taylor Hall – Philipp Kurashev – Tyler Bertuzzi
Ilya Mikheyev – Jason Dickinson – Joey Anderson
Pat Maroon – Andreas Athanasiou – Craig Smith
Taylor Hall – Philipp Kurashev – Tyler Bertuzzi
Ilya Mikheyev – Jason Dickinson – Joey Anderson
Pat Maroon – Andreas Athanasiou – Craig Smith
Alec Martinez – Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic – TJ Brodie
Wyatt Kaiser – Connor Murphy
Alex Vlasic – TJ Brodie
Wyatt Kaiser – Connor Murphy
We’re projecting Petr Mrazek in net, backed up by Arvid Soderblom. The projected extras are Ryan Donato, Nolan Allan and Lukas Reichel. It’s Connor Bedard’s first visit to the Saddledome as an NHLer, as he was injured during Chicago’s lone visit a year ago.
The Blackhawks are a fairly interesting team this season. They have a mix of older and younger players, as they’re not going fully into a youth movement, but are attempting to surround Bedard and other youngsters with some players that can compliment their strengths. The Hawks still have a ways to go before they’re back to their full strength and glory, but you can look at what they’re doing and imagine what they want to do over the next few seasons.
Unavailable players
The Flames are without Yegor Sharangovich and Kevin Rooney.
The Blackhawks are without Laurent Brossoit.
The numbers
Flames | Blackhawks | |
3 | Wins | 1 |
6 (1.000) | Points (%) | 3 (.500) |
50.7% (16th) | xGF% | 44.4% (3rd) |
27.3% (10th) | PP% | 42.9% (2nd) |
66.7% (26th) | PK% | 83.3% (15th) |
Head to head
This is the first of three games between the Flames and their Central Division opponent. They’ll meet again in Calgary on Dec. 21 and in Chicago on Jan. 13.