Flames Gameday: Yegor Sharangovich has his opportunity against the New Jersey Devils as Calgary concludes a six-game homestand

Players very often desire exacting revenge on teams that trade them away.

Calgary Flames forward Yegor Sharangovich has his opportunity to try his hand at that quest when the New Jersey Devils visit the Saddledome for Saturday’s matinee clash.

As Calgary (11-12-3) looks to claim a second consecutive victory and close out its six-game homestand on a positive, Sharangovich will look to build on his season that has gained momentum after a slow start.

Over the past few weeks, he has shown what the Flames saw in him when they acquired him and a third-round draft choice (used to select Aydar Suniev) in the trade that sent Tyler Toffoli to the Devils.

Sharangovich has collected five goals and 12 points this season. He has mostly been skating on a line with Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane, and surpassed 21 minutes of ice time in four of the past five games.

“I have a lot of opportunity, a lot of ice time,” Sharangovich told the Flames website. “It’s fun to play with Lindy and Mangy.

“We just need to score more goals, because we’ve had a lot of chances the last couple of games.”

The Devils (13-10-1) have won five of six games and the first two of their four-game road trip, the latest a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.

Toffoli, who led Calgary in goals and points, is pacing New Jersey with 12 goals.

With no morning skate, here is a guess at Calgary’s expected lineup, although a couple of players missed practice Friday due to illness and Matt Coronato did not suit up for last night's Wranglers game. It appeared from practice Dan Vladar would return to the net:
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
Ilya Solovyov-Jordan Oesterle
Extra: Denis Gilbert
Goal:
Dan Vladar
Dustin Wolf
Wolf is yet to face the Devils, while Vladar has a career won his only game against New Jersey, a 5-3 road victory on Oct. 26, 2021.

Here is the expected roster for New Jersey based on the lineup in Seattle:
Forwards:
Erik Haula-Jack Hughes-Tyler Toffoli
Ondrej Palat-Nico Hischier-Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier-Dawson Mercer-Alexander Holtz
Brendan Smith-Michael McLeod-Curtis Lazar
Defence:
Jonas Siegenthaler-Simon Nemec
Kevin Bahl-John Marino
Luke Hughes-Colin Miller
Goal:
Akira Schmid
Vitek Vanecek
Schmid has never faced the Flames, while Vanecek has a 3-0-0 record with a 3.56 goals-against average and .894 save percentage.

ICE CHIPS: Flames D Rasmus Andersson will play his 400th NHL game … Simon Nemec, drafted by the Devis second overall in 2022, will play his fourth NHL game after making his NHL debut Dec. 1. The defenceman has three points in his first three games, including his first career goal last outing … Speaking of former Flames, Curtis Lazar, who played 70 games for Calgary over three seasons, returns, but Dougie Hamilton is out due to injury … Calgary’s moribund power play (currently on a 3-for-45 slide) has fallen to 28th in the league (11.9%). The Devils boast the league’s best power play 28-for-80 (35%), which will be a test for Calgary’s penalty kill that sits ninth (84%) … As bad as the Flames have been scoring first in only nine games (during which they have a 4-3-2 record), the Devils have opened the scoring in only seven outings (6-1-0). Curiously, both squads have an identical record when surrendering the first goal: 7-9-1.