Flames Gameday: Calgary versus St. Louis Blues

Flames look to snap a three-game losing skid, Solovyov slated to make his NHL debut

With forward Adam Ruzicka out on a day-to-day basis due to a shoulder injury, the Calgary Flames have summoned defenseman Ilya Solovyov from the AHL Wranglers.

Solovyov, the 2020 seventh-round pick who made a very strong case for himself during the pre-season, is slated to make his NHL debut when the Flames play host to the St. Louis Blues Thursday.

Solovyov, the 6-foot-3, 208-lb., product of Belarus, has collected one goal and one assist in four games for the Wranglers this season. Where he plays remains to be seen, but he and Dennis Gilbert did pair with each other during the pre-season.

Solovyov, 23, has two full AHL seasons under his belt plus the handful of games this season.

It appears struggling Jordan Oesterle will come out of the lineup.

Meanwhile, Ruzicka’s place in the lineup will be filled by AJ Greer (a healthy scratch last game). Considering how Ruzicka looked when he left the ice in the first period of Tuesday’s loss to the New York Rangers following a hit from Jimmy Vesey, the day-to-day status is a good sign. Ruzicka did take to the ice briefly before Thursday’s morning skate, but did not participate.

The Flames (2-4-1), who are riding a three-game losing skid, did not run lines in their skate, so here is our best guess:
Forwards:
Jonathan Huberdeau-Elias Lindholm-Yegor Sharangovich
Dillon Dube-Nazem Kadri-Matt Coronato
Blake Coleman-Mikael Backlund-Andrew Mangiapane
AJ Greer-Dryden Hunt-Walker Duehr
Defense:
Noah Hanifin-MacKenzie Weegar
Nikita Zadorov-Chris Tanev
Dennis Gilbert-Ilya Solvyov
Extra: Jordan Oesterle
Goal:
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar
Markstrom has a career 4-7-2 record against St. Louis, with a 3.00 average and .885 save percentage.

Here is the expected lineup for the Blues (2-2-1), who are slated to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen:
Forwards:
Brandon Saad-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou
Pavel Buchnevich-Brayden Schenn-Kasperi Kapanen
Alexei Toropchenko-Oskar Sundqvist-Sammy Blais
Jake Neighbours-Kevin Hayes
Defense:
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Torey Krug-Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella-Robert Bortuzzo
Scott Perunovich
Goal:
Joel Hofer
Jordan Binnington
With the Blues facing the Vancouver Canucks tomorrow night, the Flames will face the number-two goalie. Hofer has played once this season, and surrendered six goals in a 6-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes. He has a career 4-3-1 record with a 3.52 GAA and .893 SvPct.

ICE CHIPS: All signs point to the “under” in this game. The Blues are averaging 2.00 goals per game and the Flames are at 2.4. Calgary has managed only four goals in its last three games (by comparison, former Flame Tyler Toffoli scored five goals over two games on Tuesday and Wednesday for the New Jersey Devils) … The Blues have managed only four shots on goal in the third period of each of their last three games … Looking at special teams, the Flames have failed to score on the power play in four consecutive games, after netting one goal in each of the first three contests, while the Blues are a miserable 1-for-15 on the season with the man-advantage.