Flames gunning for a seventh consecutive victory in Anaheim and pull to .500 on the campaign
Calgary Flames (13-14-5) at the Anaheim Ducks (12-19-0)
The Flames kick off a two-game trip to Southern California against an Anaheim Ducks squad that pulled out of a tailspin with a pair of victories over the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings to end a road swing.
Calgary arrives in Disneyland having won both parts of a two-game home set against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.
Remember when the Flames had that miserable 25-game winless skid in Anaheim (which began late in the 2003-04 season and ran through the 2016-17 campaign)? Calgary has won six consecutive games in Anaheim.
In fact, the Flames are on a 9-1-1 run against the Ducks.
The Ducks boast the league’s worst winning percentage at home (.333) with their 5-10-0 record.
Here’s a look at Calgary’s likely lineup:
Forwards:
Andrew Mangiapane-Elias Lindholm-Yegor Sharangovich
Jonathan Huberdeau-Mikael Backlund-Blake Coleman
Connor Zary-Nazem Kadri-Martin Pospisil
A.J. Greer-Adam Ruzicka-Dillon Dube
Extra: Walker Duehr
Defence:
MacKenzie Weegar-Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin-Chris Tanev
Dennis Gilbert-Nick DeSimone
Extra: Jordan Oesterle
Goal:
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar
Markstrom has a career 7-6-2 career record against Anaheim with a 2.33 goals-against average, .916 save percentage and one shutout. Vladar’s career record against the Ducks is 3-0-0 with a 2.91 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.
Here is the expected roster for the Ducks:
Forwards:
Alex Killorn-Leo Carlsson-Troy Terry
Frank Vatrano-Adam Henrique-Ryan Strome
Max Jones-Mason McTavish-Brett Leason
Brock McGinn-Sam Carrick-Jakob Silfverberg
Extra: Ross Johnston, Bo Groulx
Defence:
Cam Fowler-Jamie Drysdale
Pavel Mintyukov-Ilya Lyubushkin
Jackson Lacombe-Radko Gudas
Extra: Urho Vaakanainen
Goal:
Lukas Dostal
John Gibson
Dostal has a 0-1-1 mark against the Flames, 3.96 GAA and .907 SvPct. Gibson has a career 11-7-1 (two shutouts) record, with a 2.35 GAA and .922 SvPct.
ICE CHIPS: Ducks D Jamie Drysdale is expected to return. He has been on the shelf since the second game of the season. F Mason McTavish is a possibility to return after missing seven games due to injury … Flames F Blake Coleman is riding a career-best seven-game point streak in which he’s collected four goals and five assists ... On the other side of the spectrum, LW Jonathan Huberdeau has gone nine games without a point and 14 games without a goal. It is quite a feat seeing as Coleman and Huberdeau are linemates … Anaheim has a perfect record in games that have gone into extra time, with a 3-0 mark in games decided in overtime and a 1-0 shootout record … The Ducks are the NHL’s most penalized team with 14.6 minutes per game. By comparison, the Flames sit ninth at 8.8 minutes per game.