Calgary Flames at Minnesota Wild
Tuesday, 6 p.m. MT, Xcel Energy Center, TV: Sportsnet West, Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan
THE BIG MATCHUP
Flames G Mike Smith vs. Wild G Alex Stalock
The Flames won’t need to scramble for a scouting report on Wild backup netminder Alex Stalock, who will be between the pipes Tuesday for the home-side. In fact, Stalock has already earned a pair of Ws over the crew from Calgary this season — leading the Wild to a 4-2 victory in a starting assignment at the Saddledome in October and then providing two periods of solid relief for an injured Devan Dubnyk in a 2-1 shootout squeaker last month in Minnesota’s own rink. At the other end, Flames stalwart Mike Smith will try to prevent the Wild from completing the regular-season sweep. Smith was first star after a 27-save performance in Saturday’s 3-2 triumph over the Anaheim Ducks.
Dougie Hamilton, centre, celebrates after his last-minute goal against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
FIVE STORYLINES
1. GOING FOUR IT
The Flames are shooting for a fourth straight victory, which would mark their longest run of the season. They started this streak with a New Year’s Eve triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks and followed up with wins against the two squads from SoCal — the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks. All of ’em one-goal games, by the way. If they can continue to roll, the Flames could climb Tuesday into a playoff spot in the NHL’s Western Conference.
2. EXCELLING AT XCEL
The Wild are riding a four-game win spree on home ice and boast a stellar 14-4-2 record this season in the friendly confines of Xcel Energy Center. They’ve had tough travels, though, struggling to an 8-13-1 mark in enemy territory. “We gotta learn how to win on the road,” stressed Wild bench boss Bruce Boudreau after Saturday’s 7-2 thumping from the Avalanche in Colorado. “It’s ridiculous how we can be so good at home and completely opposite on the road.”
3. NON-TRAVELLING JAGR
Legendary right-winger Jaromir Jagr was not on Monday’s flight to Minnesota. The Flames have remained tight-lipped as rumours have swirled about Jagr’s future with the club, saying only that the 45-year-old is ‘day-to-day’ with a lower-body injury. It might have been a good idea for some of his teammates to bid farewell before this four-game trip — it’s believed the Flames and No. 68 are negotiating a mutual parting of ways.
4. ZACH IS BACK
The Wild welcomed the return of veteran winger Zach Parise for their first contest of 2018. The 33-year-old had surgery on his lower back in late October and missed the first three months of the season. Parise has yet to hit the scoresheet in his three outings since getting the medical green-light. He’s been a smidge better than a point-per-game guy in his career against the Flames, with 13 goals and eight assists in 20 matchups.
5. WAIT, THERE’S MORE …
Four of Calgary’s key contributors — captain Mark Giordano, the top-line tandem of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan and talented trouble-maker Matthew Tkachuk — are currently enjoying three-game point streaks … Mikko Koivu, who wears the ‘C’ for the Wild, missed Monday’s practice due to the flu and is ‘questionable’ for Tuesday’s clash … With his next goal or assist, Flames defenceman TJ Brodie will reach the 200-point plateau.
FLAMES GAMEDAY LINES
Johnny Gaudreau-Sean Monahan-Micheal Ferland
Matthew Tkachuk-Mikael Backlund-Troy Brouwer
Sam Bennett-Mark Jankowski-Garnet Hathaway
Andrew Mangiapane-Matt Stajan-Curtis Lazar
DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Mark Giordano-Dougie Hamilton
TJ Brodie-Travis Hamonic
Brett Kulak-Michael Stone
GOALIES
Mike Smith
David Rittich
WILD GAMEDAY LINES
Tyler Ennis-Eric Staal-Zach Parise
Nino Niederreiter-Mikko Koivu-Mikael Granlund
Joel Eriksson Ek-Charlie Coyle-Jason Zucker
Marcus Foligno-Matt Cullen-Daniel Winnik
DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Gustav Olofsson-Nate Prosser
GOALIES
Alex Stalock
Devan Dubnyk
SPECIAL TEAMS
POWER PLAY
FLAMES: 17.6% (T-20th)
WILD: 19.5% (16th)
PENALTY KILL
FLAMES: 78.8% (25th)
WILD: 82.8% (T-8th)
SICK BAY
FLAMES
RW Michael Frolik (jaw), RW Jaromir Jagr (lower body), LW Kris Versteeg (hip)
WILD
C Mikko Koivu (illness)
