Game Day: Can Flames Turn Things Around on Road Vs. NYI?

The Calgary Flames (5-4-1) are looking for a fresh start on the road after losing four straight on home ice. Yeah, ouch.

But it’s no easy task against the New York Islanders (7-5-0) at UBS Arena. Both the Flames and Isles are on their first leg of back-to-back nights, so they should be fresh. That said, the Flames struggled to find any energy the last few games at home. The change of scenery may do them some good. Blake Coleman talked about being eager to hit the road recently.

The Flames called in reinforcements on the weekend, moving the injured Michael Stone to IR and bringing up a pair of defencemen. It looks like Nick DeSimone will play in the NHL for the first time with the Calgary Flames. Dennis Gilbert was also recalled from the WHL Calgary Wranglers. Oliver Kylington is out indefinitely dealing with a personal family matter and has not yet returned to the team. Stone joins Chris Tanev in sick bay, although Tanev made the trip and that means it’s possible he could play one of the three games.

The Flames go to New Jersey to face the Devils on Tuesday, then the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

As per NYI Hockey Now, the Islanders just finished their third road trip of the season, going 2-1-0 with wins against the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues, followed by a shutout loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

Ilya Sorokin starts against the Flames tonight.

Jakob Markstrom (4-2-1, 2.84 GAA, .900 SV%) is the man for the Flames.

Calgary Flames Projected Lineup

Forwards:

Jonathan Huberdeau – Nazem Kadri – Andrew Mangiapane

Milan Lucic – Elias Lindholm – Tyler Toffoli

Dillon Dube – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman

Trevor Lewis – Adam Ruzicka/Kevin Rooney – Brett Ritchie

Defence:

Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson

Nikita Zadorov – MacKenzie Weegar

Connor Mackey – Nick DeSimone

Goaltenders

Jacob Markstrom

Dan Vladar

New York Islanders Projected Lineup

Forwards:

Josh Bailey – Mathew Barzal – Oliver Wahlstrom

Anders Lee – Brock Nelson -Anthony Beauvillier

Zach Parise – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Kyle Palmieri

Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Nikita Soshnikov

Defence:

Adam Pelech – Ryan Pulock

Alexander Romanov – Noah Dobson

Sebastian Aho – Scott Mayfield

Goalies:

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov