Flames Gameday: Calgary at Detroit Red Wings

Any guess which Calgary Flames team will hit the ice for Sunday’s road clash with the Detroit Red Wings?

The Flames, with a 1-2-1 record so far on this road trip, end a five-game trek against a surprising Red Wings team that has won four straight, and scored 21 goals in those four victories — the latest a 5-2 road victory over the Ottawa Senators Saturday afternoon.

Note the start time: 3 p.m. MT.

Calgary’s performances on this trip have been all over the map, even during games. The Flames have had absolutely dominating stretches, and completely fallen apart.

Goals have been at a premium, too,.

Adding to Calgary’s degree of difficulty is the fact the club will be without defenseman Rasmus Andersson due to the four-game suspension handed after his late hit on Columbus Blue Jackets star Patrik Laine just before time expired. Andersson is reportedly planning to appeal the length of his banishment.

Here is a best guess of Calgary’s lineup based on the suspension and the Columbus game:
Forwards:
Jonathan Huberdeau-Elias Lindholm-Andrew Mangiapane
Adam Ruzicka-Nazem Kadri-Dillon Dube
Blake Coleman-Mikael Backlund-Matt Coronato
AJ Greer-Yegor Sharangovich-Walker Duehr
Extra: Dryden Hunt
Defense:
Noah Hanifin-Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov-MacKenzie Weegar
Dennis Gilbert-Jordan Oesterle
Goal:
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar

Here is the expected lineup for Detroit:
Forwards:
Alex DeBrincat-Dylan Larkin-Lucas Raymond
Michael Rasmussen-JT Compher-Andrew Copp
David Perron-Joe Veleno-Daniel Sprong
Austin Czarnik-Christian Fischer
Defense:
Jake Walman-Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot-Jeff Petry
Justin Holl-Shayne Gostisbehere
Olli Maatta
Goal:
James Reimer is likely to start after Ville Husso played in Ottawa

ICE CHIPS: The Red Wings, who scored three power-play goals against the Senators, have the league’s best mark with the man-advantage — 50 percent, with nine power-play goals already. That will be a test for Calgary’s penalty kill, which has snuffed all but one of 17 short-handed situations … How has adding Alex DeBrincat worked out? He has five goals and eight points in the first five games, while Dylan Larkin has points in every game this season, and netted two goals and seven assists. Both his goals and five of his assists have been on the power play … Both DeBrincat and Larkin have played 14 games against Calgary in their career. Larkin’s numbers: 7G, 7A; DeBrincat: 6G, 5A … D Shayne Gostisbehere has points in all five games … G James Reimer has a 4-5-0 record against the Flames, with a 3.29 goals-against average and .900 save percentage … Jacob Markstrom’s career marks against Detroit are a 5-1-1 record (two shutouts) with 1.42 GAA and .950 SvPct.