[GDT] Red Wings vs. Retro Jersey Flames. 7:00 PM on Sportsnet 360, 960

[TheScorpion]

The Calgary Flames (3-3-1) will welcome the Detroit Red Wings (3-3-0) into town on Oct. 17 at 7:00 p.m., with the hometown side looking to string two wins together for the first time in the young 2019-20 NHL season.

Winging it

Johnny Gaudreau's Flames have begun 2019-20 on uneven footing, dropping decisions to struggling teams in Los Angeles and San Jose while also knocking off more promising clubs in Dallas and Philadelphia.

In theory, Dylan Larkin's Red Wings should fall into the former category, but they currently sit just one point behind the Flames in the NHL standings. Winger Anthony Mantha has played an enormous role in the Wings' early-season success, scoring six goals (including two game-winners) in six games while playing on a high-powered line with Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi.

However, much like the Flames, Detroit has struggled with secondary scoring. While Darren Helm and Luke Glendening have both scored twice, all of Valtteri Filppula, Justin Abdelkader, Mike Green, Frans Nielsen, and rookie Taro Hirose have been held out of the "goals" column so far.

Furthermore, coming off a 30-goal season, centre Andreas Athanasiou has yet to light the lamp in 2019-20.

"Athanasiou is a real dynamic player, can make plays on his own and I think he can do a lot of things with other people," said Wings coach Jeff Blashill after his team's practice on Oct. 16. "A lot of speed on the breakout. Him and Larkin just fly on the ice."

Defenders Danny DeKeyser (mid-body) and Patrik Nemeth (illness), as well as forward Adam Erne (upper body), did not skate yesterday and are expected to be game-time decisions against Calgary.

Jimmy Howard (1-2-0, .910 SV%) is expected to start for the Red Wings after his partner, Jonathan Bernier (2-1-0, .888 SV%) suffered mightily in a disastrous loss to the Canucks on Oct. 15. Howard is in his 14th season with Detroit and will be a UFA after the 2019-20 season.

Frolik opens the floodgates?

Flames winger Michael Frolik is also a pending UFA. A founding member of the famed "3M Line," Frolik could be playing in his final season with Calgary.

Through six games, Frolik, like many of his bottom-six counterparts, boasted a stat-line of zeroes. That changed against the Flyers, when #67 in red picked off an errant pass in the offensive zone, negotiated his way through open space, and picked a corner behind the blocker side of former teammate Brian Elliott.

Frolik's 154th goal came in his 800th career game.

"It's something special, and I will never forget it, for sure," said Frolik on Tuesday. The Czech winger added that he expects many of his teammates to soon follow suit in scoring their first goals of the season.

"We can see it ourselves that there wasn't much scoring from our bottom guys," Frolik continued. "It's still start of season, some guys need a little more time to settle in. I think it's good timing that it happened tonight.

"Hockey's all about confidence, right? I think, those are the guys, they're gonna score, they're gonna build confidence and you keep building, you keep getting better every night," Frolik added.

Derek Ryan, Milan Lucic, Sam Bennett, Mark Jankowski, and Mikael Backlund are among the Flames forwards still looking for their first goals of the season. Winger Elias Lindholm leads the Flames with four tallies in seven games.

Backlund briefly left Tuesday's contest against Philadelphia after blocking an Ivan Provorov shot with his left foot. The Swedish pivot sat out on Wednesday as his teammates practised, but Flames coach Bill Peters clarified the situation later that day.

"Maintenance day today," said Peters. "Probably try it in the pre-game skate and if he's good to go, he'll be in (against Detroit)."

David Rittich is expected to make his seventh start of the season when the Flames face Detroit. The Czech netminder is 3-2-1 this year with a .910 save percentage.

- With files from Eric Francis and Dana Wakiji

Flames lineup:

Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Sam Bennett - Derek Ryan - Andrew Mangiapane
Milan Lucic - Mark Jankowski - Austin Czarnik

Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie
Noah Hanifin - Travis Hamonic
Oliver Kylington - Rasmus Andersson

David Rittich
Cam Talbot

Scratches: Tobias Rieder, Michael Stone

Projected Red Wings lineup:

Tyler Bertuzzi - Dylan Larkin - Anthony Mantha
Taro Hirose - Andreas Athanasiou - Luke Glendening
Adam Erne - Frans Nielsen - Valtteri Filppula
Darren Helm - Jacob de la Rose - Justin Abdelkader

Patrik Nemeth - Mike Green
Trevor Daley - Filip Hronek
Dennis Cholowski - Alex Biega

Jimmy Howard
Jonathan Bernier

Injured: Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson
Scratches: Christoffer Ehn, Madison Bowey

[SmoggyFlamesFan]

Retro jerseys are a good omen. I think we finally saw some consistent 5 on 5 play last game against Philly. If the flames keep playing their game, I like their chances in this one. That said, the wings just got stomped by the Canucks and shouldn't be taken lightly.

[CN10]

Sportselect Info
Wings Win = 3.6
Overtime = 3.9
Flames Win = 1.55
Over 6.5 = 1.9
Under 6.5 = 1.55

3M and Brodano need to keep the Wings' top line in check and hopefully Detroit's lack of depth is what allows Calgary's bottom 6 to finally get going. Would be great if someone on PP2 managed to get a shot + rebound to Lucic garbage goal just so we can stop hearing about him not having scored yet. Would also be nice to see the fourth line so some damage. I like the Flames in this one to get the win 4-2. GFG!

[300 MPH Blues]

I still want to see Mantha answer for the #### he pulled on Hamonic!

[rain_e]

I didn't catch the last game. Are these the same lines as the last game?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by rain_e

I didn't catch the last game. Are these the same lines as the last game?

For the Flames? Yes. They were quite effective.

[rain_e]

Thanks, yes for the Flames.

[Erick Estrada]

I see the Oilers once again this week get to face a team on the backside of back to backs after facing the Flames. I am at a loss as to why the NHL keeps giving them favorable schedules. Really though as long as the Flames take care of business I don't really care if the Wings are tired to face the Oilers as their good fortune will not last much longer.

[sureLoss]

juggled the bottom 6 a bit with Bennett and Lucic swapping

Pat Steinberg @Fan960Steinberg
#Flames tonight vs. Detroit:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm
Tkachuk-Backlund-Frolik
Bennett-Ryan-Mangiapane
Lucic-Jankowski-Czarnik

Giordano-Brodie
Hanifin-Hamonic
Kylington-Andersson

Rittich

[Toonage]

Minor change, but I still don't get why you don't leave a line up that won in tact at least to start. Not a big deal, just makes me wonder.

[Flash Walken]

Peters may have been sending a message to bennett with his icetime last game, now gives him the possibility for redemption.

We'll see how long it lasts tonight.

[tvp2003]

Just need to play a full 60 minutes and we'll get two points. Rinse and repeat.

4-1 Flames.

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Peters may have been sending a message to bennett with his icetime last game, now gives him the possibility for redemption.

We'll see how long it lasts tonight.

And if Bennett keeps taking dumb penalties, staple his butt to the bench. He'll figure it out.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Just need to play a full 60 minutes and we'll get two points. Rinse and repeat.

4-1 Flames.



And if Bennett keeps taking dumb penalties, staple his butt to the bench. He'll figure it out.

Also lucic was really bad last game so why not?

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Also lucic was really bad last game so why not?

Yikes if you think Lucic was bad last game then you're never going to like a game from him (certainly possible)

59% CF
73% shot split
71% xGF%
+1
And won 3/4 faceoffs, one leading to a goal

[The Yen Man]

Another night where we butter up a bottom level team just to give the Oilers a chance to beat them the following night. Whatever. GFG! I predict a 4-1 win. Bennett with his first goal of the season.

[TheIronMaiden]

Lucic has looked big a mean, and any chance he gets he throws his weight around. I think everyone can agree that $5,250,000 over four years is a terrible contract. That said, suggesting that he has not made a positive contribution is confirmation bias.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Yikes if you think Lucic was bad last game then you're never going to like a game from him (certainly possible)

59% CF
73% shot split
71% xGF%
+1
And won 3/4 faceoffs, one leading to a goal

Who had the lowest CF% in that game for Calgary?

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Who had the lowest CF% in that game for Calgary?

TJ Brodie for dman at 45.8%

Derek Ryan for forwards at 50%

Point being?

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

TJ Brodie for dman at 45.8%

Derek Ryan for forwards at 50%

Point being?

just wondering the context for a game where the flames outshot their opponent 38-22.

[Bingo]

Lucic had the 5th highest xGF% in the game, as I said, that's a pretty solid game from Lucic.

If you don't like him in that game, you probably never will.