Flames start 2024 sitting five points out of a playoff spot and playing four games in six days
Flames (15-16-5, 35 points) versus Minnesota Wild (16-15-4, 36 points)
New year. New hope.
The Calgary Flames and embattled forward Jonathan Huberdeau have high hopes a strong outing in their 4-3 New Year’s Eve victory over the Philadelphia Flyers is a springboard now that the calendar has flipped.
A clash with the Minnesota Wild is the first test of 2024.
“We wanted to end the year on a great note and that’s what we did,” said Huberdeau, who snapped a 12-game point drought in that game (but has gone 18 without a goal). “We’re right here. We’ve just got to put some wins together and be right back in it.”
The Flames kick off a four-game road swing against the Wild on Tuesday, the start of a busy week.
Calgary is five points out of a wild-card spot.
Jacob Markstrom is expected to start, which would be his first game of the season against Minnesota. He was out with a broken finger both meetings.
The Wild, who have beat the Flames in both meetings so far this season, lost both halves of a home-and-home set with the Winnipeg Jets to end 2023, and that may not be the worst news.
Leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov and number-one goaltender Filip Gustavsson (who won both games with the Flames and has a career 5-0-1 mark against Calgary) were injured against the Jets and are out of action on a week-to-week basis.
Minnesota is also without top-pairing defenseman Jonas Brodin and forward Vinni Lettieri, while veteran Marcus Foligno is a game-time decision.
There is some good news. Forward Mats Zuccarello, who has missed seven games, is close to returning.
Minnesota goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is at 550 career wins, and his next victory will tie Patrick Roy for second on the all-time regular-season list.
Here’s a look at Calgary’s expected lineup:
Forwards:
Jonathan Huberdeau-Elias Lindholm-Yegor Sharangovich
Andrew Mangiapane-Mikael Backlund-Blake Coleman
Connor Zary-Nazem Kadri-Martin Pospisil
A.J. Greer-Adam Ruzicka -Dillon Dube
Extra: Walker Duehr
Defence:
Noah Hanifin-Chris Tanev
Dennis Gilbert-Rasmus Andersson
Jordan Oesterle-MacKenzie Weegar
Extra: Nick DeSimone
Goal:
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar
Markstrom has a career 6-3-2 career record (one shutout) against Minnesota with a 2.35 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. Vladar has a 1-1-1 mark with a 3.28 GAA and .895 SvPct.
Here potentially is the Wild roster:
Forwards:
Marcus Johansson-Joel Eriksson Ek-Matt Boldy
Nic Petan-Marco Rossi-Ryan Hartman
Marcus Foligno-Frederick Gaudreau-Pat Maroon
Brandon Duhaime-Connor Dewar-Jake Lucchini
Defence:
Jacob Middleton-Brock Faber
Alex Goligoski-Jared Spurgeon
Dakota Mermis-Zach Bogosian
Goal:
Marc-Andre Fleury
Zane McIntyre
Fleury has a 14-6-1 career mark (five shutouts) against the Flames, with a 2.13 GAA and .930 SvPct.
ICE CHIPS: If F Marcus Foligno can’t play, Minnesota will likely dress seven defencemen, with Jon Merrill drawing into the lineup … The Wild have an 11-5-0 record since John Hynes was named coach following the firing of Dean Evason … Here’s an opportunity for Calgary’s power play to gain momentum. Minnesota’s penalty kill is 30th in the league and at the bottom at home with a 70 percent kill rate … Wild RW Matt Boldy has collected three goals and four points in the two games against Calgary this season.
