After falling 4-1 at the hands of the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night, the Calgary Flames get right back in action tonight when they welcome the Anaheim Ducks to the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Flames will make two lineup changes this evening as they look to earn their first win of the season.
Calgary Flames 0-1-0, 13th Western Conference
After being scratched Sunday against the Sharks, forward Blair Jones and defenseman T.J. Brodie will play their first games of the season. It was a slight surprise when both were scratched in game one, but it sounds like the coaching staff is going to be mixing things around early on this season.
Curtis Glencross-Alex Tanguay-Jarome Iginla
Sven Baertschi-Mikael Backlund-Mike Cammalleri
Roman Horak-Matt Stajan-Lee Stempniak
Blake Comeau-Blair Jones-Tim Jackman
Mark Giordano-Jay Bouwmeester
Chris Butler-Dennis Wideman
T.J. Brodie-Cory Sarich/Derek Smith
Begin confirmed this morning that he will not play tonight. He took a shot off the ankle in the second period and left for a good chunk of time before returning to start the final frame. That’s a part of why he’s not playing tonight. Brodie will play for sure, but whether it’s Smith or Sarich sitting out will be a game time decision, however I’d lean towards Sarich playing.
Miikka Kiprusoff gets the start in net.
Anaheim Ducks 1-0-0, 3rd Western ConferenceThe Ducks surprised many when they rolled up seven on the Vancouver Canucks Saturday night. Teemu Selanne became the oldest player in the history of the NHL to record four points; he was 42 years, 6 months, and 16 days old. Selanne hasn’t been playing with Saku Koivu early on which is a bit of a chance, as they have been linemates virtually Koivu’s entire time with the Ducks.
Kyle Palmieri-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry
Bobby Ryan-Nick Bonino-Teemu Selanne
Daniel Winnik-Saku Koivu-Andrew Cogliano
Matt Beleskey-Rickard Rackell-Devante Smith-Pelly
Bryan Allen-Cam Fowler
Francois Beauchemin-Toni Lydman
Luca Sbisa-Sheldon Souray
Fowler will play his first game this season after missing Saturday’s affair in Vancouver with the flu. He’s hoping year three is a little more consistent than his up and down sophomore season last year.
Jonas Hiller gets the start in net for the Ducks coming off a rare off year. His save percentage was down from .924 to .910 while his even strength save percentage hovered around .915 last year, which is well below his regular. Hiller has been truly one of the top netminders over the last five years and Anaheim will need him to play that way once again.