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Flames Game Day 42: A quick trip to the Windy City (5:30pm MT)

Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
After a hard-fought win against a divisional foe on Saturday night, the Calgary Flames (20-14-7, 47 points) are hitting the road for four games this coming week. They kick off their road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks (14-27-2, 30 points), one of the NHL’s worst teams in the standings. Can the Flames finish off a clean sweep of their season series with Chicago?
Tonight’s broadcast begins at 5:30 p.m. MT on Amazon Prime and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.
The Flames
Projected lines via Daily Faceoff (and Sportsnet’s Derek Wills):
Jonathan Huberdeau – Nazem Kadri – Martin Pospisil
Rory Kerins – Yegor Sharangovich – Jakob Pelletier
Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Rooney – Walker Duehr
Rory Kerins – Yegor Sharangovich – Jakob Pelletier
Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Rooney – Walker Duehr
Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
Joel Hanley – MacKenzie Weegar
Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal
Joel Hanley – MacKenzie Weegar
Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal
This is the first half of a back-to-back, with travel, so we’re projecting Dustin Wolf to start, with Dan Vladar backing up. The projected extras are Daniil Miromanov, Tyson Barrie and Andrei Kuzmenko. The expectation is that Rory Kerins will make his NHL debut.
This is the second game of a pretty hectic stretch for the Flames. They played at home on Saturday against Los Angeles. They have a back-to-back in Chicago on Monday and St. Louis on Tuesday, then play in St. Louis again on Thursday, then close things out in Winnipeg on Saturday. That’s a lot of hockey, though the travel doesn’t seem too bad by NHL standards.
The Flames are 8-5-3 since the beginning of December. They don’t score a lot, but their goaltending has been good enough that they can still win about half of the time despite that. Jonathan Huberdeau has been perhaps the team’s best offensive weapon lately – he has 10 goals over the past 18 games – but keep an eye out for Matt Coronato, who’s been excellent over the past 5-10 games.
The Blackhawks
Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:
Tyler Bertuzzi – Connor Bedard – Ilya Mikheyev
Nick Foligno – Jason Dickinson – Teuvo Teravainen
Colton Dach – Frank Nazar – Lukas Reichel
Taylor Hall – Ryan Donato – Pat Maroon
Nick Foligno – Jason Dickinson – Teuvo Teravainen
Colton Dach – Frank Nazar – Lukas Reichel
Taylor Hall – Ryan Donato – Pat Maroon
Alec Martinez – Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic – Louis Crevier
Nolan Allan – Wyatt Kaiser
Alex Vlasic – Louis Crevier
Nolan Allan – Wyatt Kaiser
We’re projecting Petr Mrazek to start in net, backed up by Arvid Soderblom. The projected extras for Chicago are TJ Brodie and Philipp Kurashev.
Man, the Blackhawks are a tough nut to crack this season. They have some really good pieces. They’re capable of playing really well, too. They beat Colorado last week! But they’re also capable of slipping on some big banana peels, as evidenced by their 6-2 trouncing by St. Louis at the recent Winter Classic.
They’re 6-14-0 since Dec. 1, and that’s probably an honest representation of where they are right now. Connor Bedard (21 points since Dec. 1) and Teuvo Teravainen (19 points) are trying to drag the team along, but they’re just not there yet.
Unavailable players
The Flames are without Anthony Mantha, Justin Kirkland and Connor Zary.
The Blackhawks are without Laurent Brossoit, Craig Smith and Connor Murphy.
The numbers
Flames | Blackhawks | |
20 | Wins | 14 |
47 (.573) | Points (%) | 30 (.349) |
50.5% (15th) | xGF% | 44.4% (30th) |
20.7% (18th) | PP% | 22.9% (12th) |
70.8% (30th) | PK% | 82.9% (6th) |
Head to head
This is the finale of their season series. The Flames beat Chicago in Calgary by scores of 3-1 (Oct. 15) and 6-4 (Dec. 21).
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