Flames arrive in the Windy City to face the Blackhawks on a three-game losing skid
Calgary Flames (33-32-5, 71 points) at Chicago Blackhawks (20-46-5, 45 points)
The Flames have lost four of five meetings with the bottom feeding Blackhawks over the past couple of seasons. If you are on Team Tank, this is would be a perfect time to drop another game, with the Flames down to the bottom 10 of the league standings. If you have faith of a playoff berth, or even do not want a losing atmosphere to creep into the Calgary dressing room, this is a test of the club’s mettle. There is no shame being on either side of the argument.
The Flames take their three-game losing skid — and 2-6-0 mark since the trade deadline — into the Windy City to kick off a two-game trip. Calgary is coming off losses on consecutive nights on the weekend and this is the middle of a stretch with five games in eight days in four cities and three time zones.
The Blackhawks, who sit 31st overall, are home for one game between a pair of three-game road trips. Chicago ended a California swing with a 5-4 overtime victory over the 32nd-overall San Jose Sharks, a game in which the Blackhawks erased a 4-0 deficit. Chicago’s last two victories have come against the moribund Sharks.
Calgary
Forwards:
Jonathan Huberdeau-Yegor Sharangovich-Andrei Kuzmenko
Connor Zary-Nazem Kadri-Martin Pospisil
Andrew Mangiapane-Mikael Backlund-Blake Coleman
A.J. Greer-Kevin Rooney-Matt Coronato
Extras: Walker Duehr, Dryden Hunt
Defence:
Oliver Kylington-Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar-Daniil Miromanov
Nikita Okhotiuk-Brayden Pachal
Extras: Dennis Gilbert, Joel Hanley
Goal:
Jacob Markstrom
Dustin Wolf
Markstrom has a 10-3-4 career mark against Chicago with two shutouts, a 2.54 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. Wolf has never faced the Blackhawks
Chicago
Forwards:
Ryan Donato-Connor Bedard-Philipp Kurashev
Nick Foligno-Tyler Johnson-Taylor Raddysh
MacKenzie Entwistle-Andreas Athanasiou-Lukas Reichel
Landon Slaggert-Jason Dickinson-Joey Anderson
Defence:
Alex Vlasic-Seth Jones
Kevin Korchinski-Jaycob Megna
Wyatt Kaiser-Nikita Zaitsev
Goal:
Petr Mrazek
Arvid Soderblom
Mrazek has a 5-3-2 career mark versus Calgary, with a 2.71 GAA and .912 SvPct. Soderblom was in net for a Flames 5-1 victory over Chicago way back on Jan. 2, 2022.
ICE CHIPS: Chicago has the 29th-ranked road penalty kill (72.6%) but the 10th-ranked home PK (82.2%) … The Blackhawks have actually scored two more power-play goals this season than the Flames … Chicago’s rally from a four-goal deficit in San Jose was the first time the Blackhawks completed that feat since they beat the Flames early in the 2009-10 campaign in a 6-5 overtime victory … Chicago rookie sensation Connor Bedard has netted four goals and eight assists over his past seven games. This is his first game facing the Flames, having been injured for the two previous encounters. Not only has Bedard set a franchise rookie record for reaching 50 points in the fewest games played (52), he and Eddie Olczyk are the only 18-year-old players in franchise history to reach the 20-goal mark … Facing the Blackhawks could help Calgary’s lack of offence. The Flames have managed only five goals over their past three games.
