Flames have started their run of clashes against mainly top-tier clashes having won two of three
Welcome to the fourth act in the Calgary Flames’ 15-game gauntlet leading up to the holiday break.
The Flames play host to the Dallas Stars on Thursday, the opposition in the first game of their difficult run that features roughly a dozen clashes against likely playoff teams.
Calgary won two of the first three games in this stretch, including the thrilling 7-4 victory against the Stars last Friday in Big D, a match which saw the Flames erase a two-goal deficit by scoring five unanswered goals, four of them in the third period — one of the multitude of comebacks already this season.
Calgary (9-10-3) has deservedly started this run on a positive note, a sign of finding the form lacking through the first month of the campaign and snapped to attention by the calibre of competition.
Dallas (13-5-2) sits second in the Central Division.
“When you play the teams perceived to be the top teams, there’s an element of fear when you’re against them,” coach Ryan Huska said. “If we’re not at our best, we might not come out on the right side or it might not be a pretty game. I think the better teams in the league bring the best out of you and that’s what we’re seeing right now.”
Calgary has cued up plenty of comeback points, but the Flames are well aware how they have been guilty of surrendering the first goal in 10 of the last 12 and trailed in 11 of those dozen outings.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve played poorly to start games. It’s just the way pucks have gone,” said forward Blake Coleman, who noted it will be a focal point to take an early lead against a Dallas team that has posted an 8-1-1 road record, a franchise-best mark through 10 road games in franchise history.
By the way, for those who want to know the horror story of Calgary’s power play, it’s in a 1-for-32 slump over the past 11 games and been blanked on 15 consecutive chances.
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-Martin Pospisil
A.J. Greer-Adam Ruzicka-Dillon Dube
Extra: Walker Duehr.
Defence:
MacKenzie Weegar-Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin-Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov-Denis Gilbert
Extra: Jordan Oesterle
Goal:
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar
Markstrom has a career 7-3-3 record, with one shutout, against Dallas with a 3.16 goals-against average and .896 save percentage.
Here is the expected roster for Dallas:
Forwards:
Jason Robertson-Roope Hintz-Joe Pavelski
Mason Marchment-Matt Duchene-Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn-Wyatt Johnston-Evgenii Dadonov
Sam Steel-Radek Faksa-Craig Smith
Defence:
Ryan Suter-Miro Heiskanen
Esa Lindell-Jani Hakanpaa
Thomas Harley-Nils Lundkvist
Goal:
Scott Wedgewood
Jake Oettinger
Wedgewood’s career marks against the Flames are 0-3-0, 4.06, .892. Oettinger’s career numbers against Calgary are 2-4-0, 4-32, .888;
ICE CHIPS: Over their career, Jonathan Huberdeau has netted 10 goals and 30 points in 26 games against the Stars, while Nazem Kadri has notched 10 goals and 24 points in 25 games and Elias Lindholm has pocketed five goals and 22 points in 24 games … Not to be outdone, Jamie Benn (42GP, 23G, 44P), Joe Pavelski (63GP, 20G, 61P) and Tyler Seguin (30GP, 13G, 28P) have all racked up points against the Flames … Pavelski continues to defy Father Time, and is riding a seven-game point streak in which he has netted five goals and eight points … This is the third and final meeting of the season, with the visiting team winning the previous two clashes, Dallas by a 4-3 score on Nov. 1 and Calgary with its 7-4 win last Friday.
