Flames are looking to build on winning two of their first three in this six-game stretch of Saddledome clashes
Flames are looking to build on winning two of their first three in this six-game stretch of Saddledome clashes
The Calgary Flames can be happy taking two of three games in the first half of their six-game homestand, with those victories against the Western Conference's first-place (Vegas Golden Knights) and fourth-place (Dallas Stars) squads.
The Minnesota Wild, Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils are visiting the Stampede City this week for the second half of the six-pack's worth of clashes.
Here is a look at those squads as the Flames attempt to move forward from an interesting week in which one pending unrestricted free agent was traded away in Nikita Zadorov and the power play finally — FINALLY — scored.
Tuesday: Minnesota Wild (8-10-4)
The Wild are enjoying the new-coach bump. After firing Dean Evason when their losing skid reached seven games (0-5-2), the Wild responded under new bench boss John Hynes with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues, a 6-1 win over the Nashville Predators and a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
Prior to this run, the Wild had not managed to hold opponents to three or fewer goals against in consecutive games.
Minnesota, which is led by Mats Zuccarello, who has collected 13 points in a nine-game point streak, Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek, is a middling club offensively, so shoring up the defensive game is a huge priority.
Wild, who are kicking off a four-game road trip in Calgary, boast the league’s worst penalty kill.
Thursday: Carolina Hurricanes (14-8-1)
Up until last week, the Hurricanes, who sit second in the Metropolitan Division, had been stumbling around by their standards. They begin a six-game road trip on Monday against the Winnipeg Jets riding a 3-0-1 stretch, including Saturday's 6-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Defence has been Carolina’s calling card the past few season, but the Hurricanes are seventh in the league in goals-for-per-game, ahead of the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers.
Sebastian Aho is leading the charge, while Seth Jarvis and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are both having breakout seasons.
Goaltending is a concern. While Frederik Andersen is sidelined due to blood clotting issues, Antti Raanta has struggled and Pyotr Kochetkov has all but taken the reins these days.
The Hurricanes will play in Edmonton the night before facing the Flames.
Saturday: New Jersey Devils (11-10-1)
A rare Saturday afternoon home game for the Flames. The Devils went into the season with high hopes, but a stretch in which they posted a 2-7-0 mark currently has them outside a playoff position.
It is no surprise, that swoon coincided with Nico Hischier on the shelf due to injury. Jack Hughes also missed time.
The Devils, who boast the league’s top power play, had won three consecutive games but finished a homestand with a 6-3 loss to the last-place San Jose Sharks on Friday — San Jose’s first road victory of the season after a 0-10-0 start away from Northern California.
The Devils begin a four-game road trip Tuesday in Vancouver.
Barring injury, it will mark the return of former Flame Tyler Toffoli, who leads New Jersey with 12 goals. Dougie Hamilton, however, is sidelined indefinitely after requiring pectoral muscle surgery.