Gameday #9: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Calgary Flames
Tuesday night was a tough one for the Calgary Flames. In a tight game with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flames allowed a tying goal in the final three minutes of regulation before Ondrej Palat scored to win the game three minutes into overtime. That said, it was a pretty solid all-around effort from Calgary, and it was a decent way to kick off a five-game homestand. That homestand continues tonight when the Flames welcome the Carolina Hurricanes (7 pm, Sportsnet Flames and Sportsnet 960).
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Calgary Flames 4-3-1, 4th Pacific Division
Jiri Hudler-Sean Monahan-Joe Colborne
Mason Raymond-Mikael Backlund-Johnny Gaudreau
Curtis Glencross-Matt Stajan-Paul Byron
Brandon Bollig-Lance Bouma-Josh Jooris
TJ Brodie-Mark Giordano
Kris Russell-Dennis Wideman
Ladislav Smid-Deryk Engelland
Flames Report: It’s just cosmetic change for the Flames, as nothing changes lineup wise for tonight. The only thing that changes for Calgary is who plays with who, including Colborne’s return to the wing. Colborne has spent time at both centre and on the wing this year, but head coach Bob Hartley is electing to split him off on the wing for tonight. Monahan is still looking for his first goal of the season, while Colborne leads the team with six assists; maybe reuniting a successful duo from last season can spark something.
Devin Setoguchi sat out Tuesday against Tampa as a healthy scratch, but he’ll sit tonight due to illness. Hartley said today that the injured David Jones (lower body) is progressing well and could play at some point on this homestand. When that happens, the team will have to make a roster move to make room for him. You have to wonder if the team thinks about sending Setoguchi to the American Hockey League, as he really hasn’t impressed all that much. On the other hand, players like Jooris and Gaudreau have impressed, and it would be tough to sacrifice one of them for the return of Jones.
Speaking of Gaudreau, he has three points in his last two games. He scored his first goal of the season and added an assist against Winnipeg on Sunday. Tuesday against Tampa he was the main reason Dennis Wideman scored the game’s opening goal, as Gaudreau took a powerplay drop pass in the neutral zone, beat two players inside the blue line, went wide before sending a cross-seam pass to Wideman. Gaudreau continues to progress, and at this point, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t continue his time at the NHL level.
It’s back to Jonas Hiller in net for the Flames tonight, as he looks for his third consecutive win. Hiller has been something else in his last two starts. The first-year Calgary goalie has stopped 83 of his last 85 shots, helping the Flames to wins over Chicago and Winnipeg in the process. Overall, Hiller is 2-2-0 with a 2.22 goals against average and an extremely impressive 0.942 save percentage.
Carolina Hurricanes 0-3-2, 8th Metropolitan Division
Jiri Tlusty-Riley Nash-Alexander Semin
Jeff Skinner-Victor Rask-Elias Lindholm
Chris Terry-Jay McClement-Zach Boychuk
Brad Malone-Patrick Brown-Brody Sutter
Andrej Sekera-Justin Faulk
Ryan Murphy-Tim Gleason
Ron Hainsey-Brett Bellemore
Hurricanes Report: It’s been a rough start for the Hurricanes, to say the very least. However, it’s not as if they’ve been completely outclassed and embarrassed in their five losses. None of their losses have come by more than two goals, and three of those setbacks have been by just one goal. There’s certainly still lots of work to be done, but at the very least, Carolina has been close. When you get off to a start like they have, it’s pretty important to look for any silver lining.
One positive piece of news came in the return of Jeff Skinner to the lineup on Tuesday night. The former first-round pick missed the first four games of the season with a concussion, the third of his NHL career. Seeing Skinner return had to be viewed as good news for the Canes, as they’re already missing two of their other top forwards. Eric Staal remains day-to-day with a lower body injury, while brother Jordan is on the shelf long term, recovering from a broken leg. A team lacking depth like Carolina can’t afford to lose one of those guys, let alone all three, so seeing Skinner return was huge.
It’ll be former Red Deer Rebels standout Cam Ward getting the start in net tonight. He’s had a real rough go the last few years, and he’s hoping to rediscover his game. Ward hasn’t been able to stay healthy, and when he’s been able to play, his work has been mediocre far too often. It hasn’t been a really positive start to the season, either, as Ward sits 0-1-1 on the year with a 3.87 goals against average and a 0.846 save percentage.