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Juuso Valimaki questionable for Sunday, Oliver Kylington might play

By Ryan Pike

Nov 24, 2018, 18:27 ESTUpdated: Nov 25, 2018, 02:14 EST

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The Calgary Flames are in a bit of a good news/bad news situation regarding their young blueliners. Defenseman Juuso Valimaki missed Saturday’s practice with a lower-body injury, which may open the door for Oliver Kylington to play on Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes.

Kristen Anderson

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#Flames head coach Bill Peters said he hasn’t made a decision on the starting goaltender. Valimaki missed today’s practice with a lower body injury. And asked Peters about if they’ve considered sitting James Neal: “I haven’t. We think he’s trending in the right direction.”

10:23 PM · Nov 24, 2018

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Recalled from the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat earlier this week, Kylington was paired with Travis Hamonic in Saturday’s skate. A second round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, Kylington has suited up for one NHL game in his pro career – on April 9, 2016, in a meaningless Game 82 outing – and this would be his first big league appearance in two and a half years. By all accounts he’s been superb for the Heat so far this season.

Projected defensive pairings would likely look like this in the two main scenarios:

Valimaki in	Valimaki out
Giordano – Brodie	Giordano – Brodie
Hanifin – Hamonic	Hanifin – Andersson
Valimaki – Andersson	Kylington – Hamonic

No other changes are expected to the Flames’ skaters, while it’s unclear which of David Rittich or Mike Smith would start in net.