The Calgary Flames picked up their first win of the preseason against Colorado on Thursday night and they'll be looking to build on that tonight against the Canucks (9 eastern, SN1).
Regardless of the circumstances it's always entertaining when the Flames and Canucks clash heads and it should be no different this time around with so many people playing for jobs on each team.
Let's take a look at the projected lineup for Calgary:
Gaudreau - Monahan - Hudler Bouma - Carroll - Frolik Agostino - Arnold - Hathaway Byron - Riley - Van Brabant/Klimchuk
Giordano - Hamilton Russell - Wideman Kylington - Wotherspoon Engelland - Sieloff (pairing likely scratched)
Hiller Ramo
What to watch:
- With T.J. Brodie out of the lineup (at least for a few weeks) another spot is up for grabs on the backend. Tyler Wotherspoon has been pretty good thus far and he could very well play his way onto the team with a couple more solid outings. There's a big opportunity in front of him. He just has to take it.
- Brodie's absence means we'll undoubtedly see Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton playing (undoubtedly a lot) together on the top unit. I'm looking forward to watching them as I think they have the potential to be one of the NHL's best defense pairings.
- Bill Arnold is a bit of a long shot to make the team but he impressed during the rookie tournament. It'll be interesting to see if he can keep things going against tougher competition.
- The Flames have scored just four goals in three games. The games don't matter but it'd still be nice for the team's key players to get going offensively and feeling good about themselves before the games start to count. We'll see if they can get back on track tonight.
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