The 3-0-0 Calgary Flames are back at it tonight. They host the upstart 2-1-0 Buffalo Sabres in what should be a more chippy game than most would expect.
Players on Buffalo have been iterating that they are actively trying to be more difficult to play against this season. A change that the Flames themselves made when Darryl Sutter took over as bench boss in March of 2021.
So far their efforts have paid off. They pried a victory out of Edmonton and cruised past Ottawa in game one. Their only loss is to the Panthers. A game that escalated physically as the third period came to an end.
In other words, don’t expect an easy win tonight. The opposition has some burgeoning stars and will come out of the gate swinging. Here is the practice lineup the Flames rolled out yesterday. Darryl Sutter says Noah Hanifin will “probably… play tonight, but he has missed two practices now. Micheal Stone took reps on powerplay drills in Noah’s absence.
Flames Lineup Huberdeau-Lindholm-Toffoli Dube-Kadri-Mangiapane Coleman-Backlund-Lewis Lucic-Rooney-Ritchie Weegar-Tanev Zadorov-Andersson Mackey-Stone
Markstrom Vladar
Sabres Lineup Skinner-Thompson-Tuch Hinostroza-Cozens-Peterka Asplund-Mittelstadt-Olofsson Krebs-Girgensons-Okposo
Samuelsson-Dahlin Power-Jokiharju Bryson-Fitzgerald
Comrie Anderson
Vladar Signs Daniel Vladar signed a two year extension today to the tune of 2.2 million. Great news for both the 6’5… Czech and the organization. The market for cheap goaltenders is fairly dry and already one contender is trying to find a solution. That being the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Obviously, this is purely speculation, but it might be interesting to revisit the question of “How much is Daniel Vladar worth to a contending team?…
We’ll re-examine this topic closer to the deadline. Currently, one could argue that the market was set when Adin Hill was shipped to Vegas for a fourth round pick. That kind of return is a non-starter for Flames general manager Brad Treliving. Pun intended.
The signing of Vladar leaves very little for Treliving to get done next offseason.
Expiring NHL Contracts After 22-23 Connor Mackey Milan Lucic Michael Stone Trevor Lewis Brett Ritchie
Tage The 2018 offseason featured a heartbreaking trade for Sabres fans.
Ryan O’Reilly, the heart and soul of the struggling organization, was packed up and shipped off for a package of players and picks.
To St. Louis C Ryan O’Reilly
To Buffalo C Patrik Berglund C Vladimir Sobotka C Tage Thompson First round pick – 2019 Second round pick – 2021
In the eyes of Sabres General Manager Jason Botterill, the 6’6 220lb center that is Tage Thompson was the core of the return.
Thompson’s first three seasons had fans lamenting the trade. 26 points over 106 games. He missed all but one game in the 2019-2020 season.
Things finally turned around for Thompson last season. 38 goals and 68 points in 78 games. He signed a 7,142,857x7 contract this offseason.
He’s a player you’re going to want to watch for a shift or two tonight. Despite being physically huge, he’s generally the quickest player on the ice. Some of the plays he makes on contested pucks will have you asking “how did this guy get there so quickly?…
The rangy pivot is known to score goals in bunches. He tallied his first marker against Edmonton on Tuesday.
Game time is 7:30pm MST. You can find the broadcast on Sportsnet 360 in Canada and the MSG Network in the US.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via naturalstattrick.com and nhl.com.