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    Randy Sportak
    Randy Sportak
    Feb 22, 2024, 19:06

    Flames finishing their four-game homestand against a Boston squad on a two-game winning streak

    Flames finishing their four-game homestand against a Boston squad on a two-game winning streak

    Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports - Flames Gameday: Calgary Looking To Sweep The Season Series With Eastern Conference-Leading Boston Bruins

    Calgary Flames (26-25-5, 55 points) versus Boston Bruins (34-12-11 points)

    The Flames, who sit three points out of the Western Conference’s second wild-card position, end a four-game homestand against a Beast From The East.

    The Bruins arrive on the heels of a thrilling — and wild — 6-5 overtime victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, a game in which they blew leads of 4-1 and 5-4 but recovered thanks to Charlie McAvoy’s winner.

    Calgary shocked the Bruins in their first meeting of the season, a 4-1 game in Beantown in the first clash for both squads after the all-star break.

    The Flames are not expected to make any lineup changes from Monday’s 6-3 comeback win over the Winnipeg Jets. Injured forward Jakob Pelletier took part in the morning skate, but his return is a few days away.

    Boston, already without defenceman Hampus Lindholm due to injury, will likely be without another blueliner in Matt Grzelcyk, who was injured in the first period in Edmonton. Considering how the Flames have a handful of pending unrestricted free-agent defencemen who could be traded away, the trade winds are blowing harder through Calgary right now, too. Noah Hanifin, one of the players the Bruins likely would have great interest in, has recorded a point in seven of nine games against his hometown team, and netted three goals and five assists in those clashes.

    Here are the likely lineups for both squads:

    Calgary:
    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 an 5-5-1 career record against the Bruins with a 2.86 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. Vladar has a 1-1-0 mark against his former club with a 1.72 GAA and .933 SvPct. His win came via shutout.

    Boston did not have a morning skate after playing the night before, so this is our best guess:
    Forwards:
    Jake DeBrusk-Pavel Zacha-David Pastrnak
    Brad Marchand-Charlie Coyle-Danton Heinen
    James van Riemsdyk-Morgan Geekie-Anthony Richard
    Trent Frederic-Jesper Boqvist-Justin Brazeau
    Defence:
    Parker Wotherspoon-Charlie McAvoy
    Mason Lohrei-Brandon Carlo
    Derek Forbort-Kevin Shattenkirk
    Goal:
    Linus Ullmark
    Jeremy Swayman
    Ullmark boasts a 4-1-1 record with a 2.64 GAA and .928 SvPct. against Calgary. Swayman sports a 0-2-0 mark with a 4.01 GAA and .869 SvPct.

    ICE CHIPS: Flames G Jacob Markstrom is slated to make his 200th career start for Calgary. He has a 100-70-25 career record with the club ... In 20 career games against Calgary, Brad Marchand has netted 13 goals and 19 points. David Pastrnak has collected six goals and 15 points in 16 games versus the Flames. Pastrnak's next point will be the 700th of his career and Marchand is two goals shy of 400 ... Calgary's penalty killers have surrendered five goals against in the last three games ... The Bruins have outscored opponents 60-36 in the first period ... Four of Boston's last five games have gone into extra time. Both victories in the club's two-game streak required more than 60 minutes ... Bruins coach Jim Montgomery's next victory will be his 100th behind the Boston bench, quite the feat since it's only his second season in that role. 

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