Preview (2/82): Flames Welcome Ducks for Home Opener

Calgary Flames vs Anaheim Ducks, 7:30 PM MT

Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary AB

Calgary Flames (0-1-0) vs Anaheim Ducks (1-1-0)

TV: SNW, SNF Radio: SN960

Odds: Calgary -200, O/U = 5.5

The Calgary Flames will play their home opener and first regular season game with fans tonight at the Saddledome with the Anaheim Ducks in town. The last time the Flames played in front of their fans was March 10, 2019 in a loss to Vegas before the world shut down. Tonight will also mark the first time that the Flames have played an American opponent in a meaningful game since Game 6 against Dallas in the bubble.

The Flames enter the contest with an 0-1 record after they (shockingly) lost their opening night game up in Edmonton by a score of 5-2. While the Flames ultimately played a pretty solid game at even strength, they were done in by the Oilers powerplay and specifically Connor McDavid who notched a hat trick in the game. Calgary ended up with a whopping 47 shots on opening night, but only scored twice in the loss. Calgary was led offensively by Andrew Mangipane and Elias Lindholm who both scored goals while Matthew Tkachuk racked up a game-best nine shots on net.

While the Flames season opening woes continued (2 wins in 27 years) they have been significantly better in the second game of seasons, going 12-3-2 in their last 17. It will be big for Calgary to avoid the 0-2 start.

Blake Coleman will be making his Calgary Flames debut after sitting out opening night due to a suspension from the preseason. He will open the game on a line with Mikael Backlund and Milan Lucic.

The Ducks will come into tonight’s game after splitting a two-game homestand with the Jets and Wild. Anaheim had a strong 4-1 win in their season opener thanks to a strong performance by John Gibson in net. They lost 2-1 to Minnesota a few nights later with Marcus Foligino scoring the winner with just 7.2 seconds to play in the third period. Anaheim will be primarily focused on their youth movement this season as their rebuild continues with a number of good young pieces already at the NHL level such as Jamie Drysdale, Mason McTavish, and Trevor Zegras to name a few. Those pieces along with Gibson will allow the Ducks to remain competitive in most of their games this season.

Jacob Markstrom will make the start in net for Calgary tonight while John Gibson will counter for the Ducks.

Flames Forward Lines

Forwards

Johnny Gaudreau – Elias Lindholm – Matthew Tkachuk

Dillon Dube – Sean Monahan – Andrew Mangiapane

Milan Lucic – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman

Brett Ritchie – Glenn Gawdin – Trevor Lewis

Defence

Nikita Zadorov – Chris Tanev

Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson

Juuso Valimaki – Erik Gudbranson

Goaltender

Jacob Markstrom

Once again puck drop goes at 7:30 PM tonight although it will likely be a bit later with the season opening festivities. For those who are going, I hope you have an absolute blast!

by Michael MacGillivray