It's a wildcard battle tonight in Calgary! The 15-12-2 Flames host the 14-11-4 Canucks on Hockey Night in Canada.
Some game day news (courtesy of
www.calgarysun.com)
Quote:
It’s been a while since Sven Baertschi was a member of the Calgary Flames organization (remember those three goals in five games of 2012?). But he still always manages to amp up his game in the Scotiabank Saddledome. He also hasn’t scored in eight games. Going up against Brett Kulak, potentially, is an interesting battle as the two of them represent the former Flames management and their drafting style. Kulak, a 2012 draft pick of the Flames, has quietly gained confidence this 2017-18 campaign, proving every day that he belongs in the NHL.
Calgary Flames goalie Mike Smith is one game away from 500 regular season games in his National Hockey League career. Of course, the 35-year-old from Kingston, Ont., played six seasons worth (312 games) with the Arizona Coyotes. But 25 of them, so far, have been with the Flames. Smith has an overall record of 207-207-62 record, a 2.70 goals against average and .913 save percentage. With the Flames, he’s 12-9-2 with a 2.71 goals against average and .918 save percentage with two shutouts.
At the National Hockey League’s board of governors meetings in Florida, Trevor Linden, the president of the Vancouver Canucks, said their club welcomes the NHL’s consideration of expanding into Seattle. Although it’s still in its’ infancy stages, Vancouver is roughly 230 kilometres away from Seattle which could open doors for a new rivalry between the teams. “For us, it’s a natural,” Linden told Canadian Press.
Flames forward Curtis Lazar played his 200th NHL game in Montreal, while TJ Brodie is three points away from 200 in his NHL career which spans over 447 NHL games … D Mark Giordano (702) needs 10 more games to pass Jim Peplinski (711) in games played for the Flames. Currently, Giordano sits seventh all-time …the Flames travelled home from Montreal on Thursday night and enjoyed a day-off Friday … Following Saturday’s clash, the Flames head to Minnesota on Monday for Tuesday’s clash at Xcel Energy Center.
LW Johnny Gaudreau leads the Flames with 12 goals and 25 assists in 29 games, good for a three-way tie for third in the NHL with 37 points. Meanwhile, C Sean Monahan leads the Flames with 17 goals which is tied with John Tavares for third in the NHL … Monahan sits tied for 19th in the NHL with 17 goals and 13 assists and 30th points.
Canucks prospect Jordan Subban was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings late Thursday. The deal saw forward Nic Dowd head to the Canucks. The 27-year-old played in 16 games for the Kings this season, registering one assist. Meanwhile Subban, the 22-year-old defenceman and younger brother of Nashville Predators d-man P.K. Suburban and Vegas Golden Knights goalie Malcolm, has five assists and 13 penalty minutes for Utica of the American Hockey League.
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Lineups, unconfirmed and subject to blending (
www.dailyfaceoff.com)
FLAMES
Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik
Bennett - Jankowski - Hathaway
F Hamilton - Stajan - Lazar
Giordano - D Hamilton
Brodie - Hamonic
Kulak - Stone
Smith (unconfirmed)
CANUCKS
D Sedin - H Sedin - Goldobin
Baertschi - Gagner - Boeser
Chaput - Burmistrov - Eriksson
Gaunce - Granlund - Virtainen
Edler - Tanev
Del Zotto - Pouliot
Hutton - Stetcher
Markstrom (unconfirmed)
The Flames have seen a lot of Canadiana this week, what with match-ups against Toronto, Montreal and now Vancouver. And with a HNIC audience, Our Hero pays tribute by dragging out the Northern stereotype of the good ol' lumber camp fight:
Go Flames