The Calgary Flames’ most dangerous weapons will remain on the shelf as the team takes to the ice in Nashville for its third-from-last game of the season Tuesday.
Mike Cammalleri, who leads the rebuilding club with 32 points, and Lee Stempniak (31 points) will join forwards Matt Stajan (who is a team-best plus-7), Mikael Backlund and Tim Jackman on the sidelines as the 12th-seeded Flames face the 14-th seeded Predators.
Factor in the injuries to up-front staples Curtis Glencross and Alex Tanguay (sprained MCLs both) and veteran defenceman Dennis Wideman (broken finger), and the Flames’ lineup Tuesday will be flooded with youth.
Seven of the Flames’ 12 projected forwards are 23 years old or younger.
While the Nashville-Calgary game has no impact on the Western Conference playoff race, the Flames’ final two games of the season — Thursday at St. Louis and Friday at Chicago — could have playoff implications.
Watch the Calgary Flames visit the Nashville Predators live on Sportsnet West at 6 p.m. MT.
The lower the Flames finish in the standings, the better their chances of landing an early draft selection in the lottery.
Yet the team is playing its best stretch of hockey all season, having won five of its last six games.
A three-game winning streak has boosted Calgary ahead of the Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche in the Western standings. But a losing skid to conclude the season could conceivably drop the Flames to the West’s basement.
[polldaddy poll=7057244]
