Flames will turn to Dan Vladar in net with Markstrom sidelined on a week-to-week basis due to a fractured finger
The Calgary Flames net belongs to Dan Vladar for now. How long remains to be seen and in part depends on how he plays tonight when the Flames (10-11-3) play host to the Minnesota Wild.
With number-one goalie Jacob Markstrom on the shelf on a week-to-week basis due to a fractured finger, Vladar gets the nod and Dustin Wolf has been summoned from the AHL Wranglers.
“They both played well when they’ve had the chances here,” captain Mikael Backlund said.
The Wild are on a three-game winning streak since John Hynes was handed the coaching reins after Dean Evason was fired. Minnesota (8-10-4) has outscored its opposition 13-3 in the run.
“They really have a great offensive skillset with a number of their players and moving around the offensive zone well,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. "And they’ve started games really well since John has been there. I think they’ve outscored opponents 8-1 in the first period, and that’s a great challenge for us. And on the flip side, they’ve given up three goals in three games, too.”
Minnesota’s Mats Zuccarello is coming off a one-goal, two-assist game and has collected 13 points in a nine-game point-scoring run.
The Flames are also making a couple of changes, with forward Walker Duehr in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past five games and Martin Pospisil coming out. As well, Ilya Solovyov is to suit up in place of Dennis Gilbert.
Here’s a look at Calgary’s expected lineup:
Forwards:
Yegor Sharangovich-Elias Lindholm-Andrew Mangiapane
Jonathan Huberdeau-Mikael Backlund-Blake Coleman
Connor Zary-Nazem Kadri-Dillon Dube
A.J. Greer-Adam Ruzicka-Walker Duehr
Extra: Martin Pospisil.
Defence:
MacKenzie Weegar-Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin-Chris Tanev
Ilya Solovyov-Jordan Oesterle
Extra: Denis Gilbert
Goal:
Dan Vladar
Dustin Wolf
Vladar won his lone career game against the Wild, a 5-3 Calgary victory nearly one year ago.
Here is the expected roster for Minnesota:
Forwards:
Kirill Kaprizov-Marco Rossi-Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson-Joel Eriksson Ek-Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno-Frederick Gaudreau-Patrick Maroon
Brandon Duhaime-Connor Dewar-Ryan Hartman
Defence:
Jonas Brodin-Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Alex Goligoski-Jon Merrill
Goal:
Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury
Gustavsson has a career 3-0-1 record with two shutouts, along with a 0.88 goals-against average and .970 save percentage against Calgary.