It’s been a bit of a rough ride for Flames fans of late. Three blowout games in a row. A 5-18 goal differential since March 8. Not much is going right for Calgary in the post-Tanifin Era.
With that said, changes are quite rapidly happening to the lineup, and there are a ton of storylines to follow. Tonight's game against the Golden Knights will be an interesting one to take in, regardless of the score.
Calgary Flames (31-29-5, 67 pts) vs Las Vegas Golden Knights (35-23-7, 75 pts)
Last Ten: Calgary (6-4-0) Vegas (3-6-1) Time: 7:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. TV: Sportsnet One, Sportsnet West, TVA Sports, KnightTime+, ESPN+
Release the Russian Imagine taking an extra hack at Wolf’s glove and seeing this beaut charging at you.
Can’t speak for everyone, but I’m so excited to have Nikita Okhotiuk in the fold. Talking to Sheng Peng, formerly of HockeyBuzz and now a beat writer in the Bay Area for SJHN: his confidence was spiraling a bit as the season went on, but he’s a good player. The team needs more snarl, and the 23-year-old needs more structure.
Noah’s Return Smooth Skating defenceman Noah Hanifin is back in town having played three games with the Golden Knights already. He’s been plugged into the top pairing with Alex Pietrangelo. He plays a lot of minutes without playing too many minutes at an average of 21:37. He’s been on the ice for five goals for and three against. Two assists in terms of offensive production.
He fits like a glove, and with any luck, he’ll play well enough to price himself out of town. Get that bag, Noah.
Speaking of Tough Names to Type Kitchener Rangers offensive defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz has signed a three year ELC with the Flames. Not as big of news as some will make of it, but it’s good to have the “the American might leave… narrative shelved for a while.
Brzustewicz, 19, has 12 goals and 73 assists for 85 points in 62 games this season. The deceptive puck mover is also notably a right shot.
Wolf Starts Dustin Wolf gets the start. Not a major surprise, but a tough test to be sure. Vegas had Wolf figured out on December 12 when they beat the Flames 5-4 in overtime. Mark Stone went high on the 6’0… netminder for the winner.
"Behind the D, the captain Stone -- he scores!"
— Golden Knights Radio (@VGKRadioNetwork) December 13, 2023
"Mark Stone, in overtime!"
🎙 @Dan_DUva
Stone finishes off a four-point night with the overtime winner. pic.twitter.com/yFZUgGxzWO
Wolf gets a shot at redemption tonight.
Smashed by the Tides of Momentum Vegas not only has two straight wins, they’re coming off a high-intensity rally over the Seattle Kraken.
Jack Eichel wins it in overtime!
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) March 13, 2024
What a comeback by the Golden Knights. They gave up three-straight goals in the third period, then scored three-straight themselves to win it.
The Golden Knights are -165 favorites to win tonight - and that feels like a steal.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Huberdeau-Kadri-Pospisil Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman Hunt-Sharangovich-Coronato Pelletier-Rooney-Duehr
Kylington-Andersson Weegar-Miromanov Okhotiuk-Pachal
Wolf Vladar
Golden Knights Projected Lineup
Barbashev-Eichel-Marchessault Howden-Stephenson-Mantha Dorofeyev -Karlsson-Amadio Cotter-Roy-Kolesar
Hanifin-Pietrangelo McNabb-Theodore Hague-Whitecloud
Hill Thompson
Thoughts after 20:
— TrevorNeufeld (@Trevor_Neufeld) March 13, 2024
-Impressed by the resilience of the #Flames. The Avs are well rested. Extensive travel combined with the schedule has been a lot for this group.
-Pospisil elevates this group. Imagine what the impact of a few more fast players would do for their record.