Game Day: Shuffled Flames Can’t Take Kraken Lightly

Coming off a disappointing loss to the Edmonton Oilers, the Calgary Flames (5-2-0) will look for some revenge against the Seattle Kraken (4-4-2) on Tuesday night. The game goes at 7 p.m. on Sportsnet.

The Kraken are from from divisional heavyweights, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be deadly.

“They’re plugging in top-end draft picks. I think their defence is a real solid group. They have really good structure,” Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said on Tuesday morning. “I think analytics will show you, if you dig in, you’ll see that they don’t give up much in terms of chances or shots against. So you’ve gotta work for your goals, or work for your opportunities.”

Despite a strong record to open their season, the Calgary Flames haven’t played anywhere near their best. Especially at even strength. Because of that, Sutter has shuffled his lines and placed top additions Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau together. Milan Lucic has a prime promotion alongside Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli. And one of last year’s best trios in the playoffs — Dillon Dube, Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman — has been reunited.

Adam Ruzicka will get his first game of the season, centring the fourth line, and Dan Vladar is expected to start his second game of the season. He won his first against the Oilers in Edmonton in Game 2.

It’s a busy week for the Flames, who host the Nashville Predators and New Jersey Devils before hitting the road for their first extended trip of the year.

The Kraken won two of three during a recent three-game home stand. They sandwiched wins against both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres by a combined score of 8-2, but lost to their rival Vancouver Canucks 5-4 in between.

Calgary Flames Lineup

Forwards:

Jonathan Huberdeau – Nazem Kadri – Andrew Mangiapane

Milan Lucic – Elias Lindholm – Tyler Toffoli

Dillon Dube – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman

Trevor Lewis – Adam Ruzicka – Brett Ritchie

Kevin Rooney

Defence:

MacKenzie Weegar – Chris Tanev

Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson

Nikita Zadorov – Michael Stone

Goaltenders

Dan Vladar

Jacob Markstrom

Seattle Kraken Projected Lineup

Forwards:

Andre Burakovsky – Alexander Wennberg – Oliver Bjorkstrand

Jaden Schwartz – Matthew Beniers – Jordan Eberle

Jared McCann – Yanni Gourde – Brandon Tanev

Ryan Donato – Shane Wright – Daniel Sprong

Defence:

Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson

Jamie Oleksiak – Justin Schultz

Carson Soucy – William Borgen

Goaltenders:

Joey Daccord

Martin Jones