Projected Lines: CGY @ ANA

Projected Lines

Calgary Flames versus Anaheim Ducks

Honda Center

Anaheim, California

The Flames are 2-0-1 so far on their California road trip, and the final stop before heading back to Alberta for the Christmas break is in the formerly cursed Honda Center!

Our line projections start in the blue paint, where on the second half of a back-to-back we’d wholly expect Jacob Markstrom to get the nod. While Dan Vladar has started consecutive games this year, two games in two nights seems like a stretch, even with the holiday break on the horizon.

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Markstrom’s last outing saw him allow 24 goals on 27 shots against the Sharks for a 7-3 win. It brought his numbers up to 10-8-4 on the season with a 2.88 Goals Against Average and .893 Save Percentage though 23 appearances. It’s been an up and down run for Markstrom so far, so we’ll see how a start against a 21-point Anaheim team and a holiday break will help.

Lineup Looks:

• D-Man Chris Tanev had missed four games since suffering a head injury against Montreal on December 12th. He made his return December 20th and skated on the second pair with Mackenzie Weegar. Center Radim Zohorna has been returned to the AHL Calgary Wranglers to make room for Tanev’s return.
• After going back to being healthy scratched and flip-flopping press box spots with Brett Ritchie most of the year, Kevin Rooney cleared waivers and has been officially designated to the Wranglers as of December 9th.
• Dennis Gilbert was sent back down to the Wranglers as of November 27th and recalled on December 18th, but is now on IR as of December 20th.
• Matthew Phillips remains called up from the Wranglers but will look to be a non-participant for his fourth straight game. He has seen two games of NHL action since being called up.
• Defender Oliver Kylington remains away on personal leave.
• D-Man Michael Stone is officially back from Injured Reserve since November 26th against Carolina, and he has skated on the third pairing with Nikita Zadorov since.
• After being a highly published healthy scratch, Milan Lucic will remain in and so will Brett Ritchie to join him on the fourth line. Nick deSimone and Connor Mackey are healthy scratched in their stead.
• In the forward groupings, Adam Ruzicka looks to remain swapped off the top line but has been finding his offense again. Over the prior fourteen games he has two goals and eleven points.
• Jonathan Huberdeau will stay in the top six but remain swapped with Dillon Dube. Huberdeau is hopefully rounding into form after tacking on fourteen points over his last fourteen games. He had a breakaway goal against the Kings, and previously went off with three assists against the Sharks on December 20th.

Projections:

Barring any major changes when lineups are submitted, they are projected as follows:

FORWARD 1: Dube-Lindholm-Toffoli

FORWARD 2: Huberdeau-Kadri-Lucic

FORWARD 3: Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman

FORWARD 4: Lewis-Ruzicka-Ritchie

D1: Hanifin-Andersson

D2: Tanev-Weegar

D3: Zadorov-Stone

GOALTENDERS: Markstrom (starter), Vladar(backup)