The Flames face off against the Winnipeg Jets tonight at 6pm in Manitoba for their second last preseason game of 2021. Let’s take a look at the projected lineup courtesy of Derek Wills @Fan960Wills.
Tkachuk-Lindholm-Coleman Mangiapane-Dube-Ritchie Richardson-Backlund-Lewis Lucic-Gawdin-Duehr
Hanifin-Andersson Zadorov-Tanev Kylington-Gudbranson
Vladar Markstrom
Gaudreau took damage last game For all the complaining Oilers fans did after McDavid got tripped, it was Johnny Hockey who took a slash from an Oiler in the second and did not return. It’s a rough sport. Here’s hoping he’s in the lineup on Oct. 16.
Running the same defence It looks like this configuration will be what Calgary runs with going into the season. Personally, I’d like to see Gudbranson draw out and Mackey draw in. This seems like a safer group:
Hanifin-Andersson Kylington-Tanev Mackey-Zadorov
Zadorov could be slotted onto the odd shift in the top 4 to wreak havoc and Sutter could lean more on the top two pairings. That said, having a blue line that other teams are actually afraid of is a good feeling. The best of both worlds would be a mid-season trade for Josh Manson — who is both mean and a responsible defender.
Searching for a checking line Dube-Backlund-Ritchie looked good against the Oilers. There seemed to be chemistry developing with Dube as the playmaker. Tonight the third line will be Richardson-Backlund-Lewis. Don’t expect much offence from that trio unless Backlund makes a takeaway or two in the neutral zone. Richardson won 67% of his draws in Edmonton and will likely rotate in to take faceoffs.
No Monahan The former 6th overall pick had a very quiet game on Tuesday. 38% faceoff percentage. One shot on net. He didn’t look like anything worth writing about, which is bad news for a star coming off hip surgery. Now he’s been given another preseason game off after only dressing for one previously. Seems like he’s not 100% yet.
Winnipeg’s lineup has not been posted yet.
Enjoy the game,
Trevor Neufeld