Flames on a two-game losing skid and with only one victory in their last six home dates heading into their matinee clash
Calgary Flames (25-24-5, 55 points) versus Detroit Red Wings (27-20-6, 60 points)
Move past a dismal loss. That’s one of the tasks for the flickering Flames as they go from Thursday’s 6-3 defeat at the hands of the San Jose Sharks and face the Red Wings in a rare Saturday afternoon game at the Saddledome.
“The beauty of this league is you can park it real quick,” forward Blake Coleman told the media after Friday’s practice. “We’ve got a quick turnaround here for (Saturday), and a good opponent that's in the same position as us, fighting for a playoff spot.”
Same position? Well, not exactly. The Red Wings head into the day’s heavy slate of action holding the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, with the New Jersey Devils two points behind and New York Islanders three points in arrears. The Flames, thanks to their two-game losing skid, are five points outside a playoff position with a handful of teams to vault, with the trade rumours of players destined to depart growing louder and louder.
It’s expected Jacob Markstrom will return to the net, with Dan Vladar to serve as backup after missing a week’s action due to a lower-body injury. Along with sending Dustin Wolf to the AHL Wranglers, forward Cole Schwindt was dispatched to the minors and Dryden Hunt was recalled to play on the fourth line. Hunt collected 22 points during a 23-game stint in the minors. He played four NHL games back in October, and was held without a point.
The Red Wings arrive in Calgary having lost the first two games of a road swing, falling to the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks by a combined 12-5 margin. That follows a 10-2-2 run.
“What stands out is probably their pace. They can skate,” Nazem Kadri said of the Red Wings. “(They're) a highly skilled team with a lot of players that can make you look bad. We’ve got to make sure not to be reckless with the puck, take care of it and make sure, systematically, we’re on point, and try to expose them a little bit defensively as well.”
Detroit handed the Flames a 6-2 thumping in the first meeting of the season, way back on Oct. 22.
Here’s a look at Calgary’s expected lineup:
Forwards:
Jonathan Huberdeau-Yegor Sharangovich-Andrei Kuzmenko
Connor Zary-Nazem Kadri-Martin Pospisil
Andrew Mangiapane-Mikael Backlund-Blake Coleman
Dryden Hunt-Kevin Rooney-Walker Duehr
Defence:
MacKenzie Weegar-Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin-Chris Tanev
Oliver Kylington-Brayden Pachal
Extras: Dennis Gilbert, Jordan Oesterle
Goal:
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar
Markstrom has a 5-1-1 career record against the Red Wings with two shutouts a 1.42 goals-against average and .950 save percentage. Vladar sports a 0-3-0 mark versus Detroit with a 4.37 GAA and .817 SvPct.
Here is the potential roster for the Red Wings:
Forwards:
Daniel Sprong-Dylan Larkin-Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat-J.T. Compher-Patrick Kane
Michael Rasmussen-Andrew Copp-David Perron
Robby Fabbri-Joe Veleno-Christian Fischer
Defence:
Jake Walman-Mortiz Seider
Ben Chiarot-Jeff Petry
Olli Maatta-Shayne Gostisbehere
Goal:
James Reimer
Alex Lyon
Reimer has a 5-5-0 record with one shutout, 3.16 GAA and .903 SvPct. against Calgary. Lyon has never faced the Flames.
ICE CHIPS: On a per-game basis, the Red Wings are sixth in the league offensively at 3.45 goals. The Flames are 16th at 3.07 … Defensively, Calgary is 14th (3.06) and the Red Wings are 25th (3.32) … Detroit RW Patrick Kane has collected 24 goals and 57 points in 47 career games against Calgary … C Dylan Larkin has netted eight goals and 16 points in 15 career clashes with the Flames … Easily lost in Thursday’s debacle, Jonathan Huberdeau collected his 700th career point with an assist on Andrei Kuzmenko’s late goal. Huberdeau is the third player in the 2011 draft class to reach 700 points. The other two are Nikita Kucherov (822) and Johnny Gaudreau (718) ... Detroit F Robby Fabbri will be back in the lineup after missing two games for the birth of his first child, a daughter.