Game Day: Flames Welcome Tkachuk, Panthers To Saddledome

The Calgary Flames (9-9-3) are back in the Saddledome. So is Matthew Tkachuk. 

The Flames have been away for a while, grinding out a six-game road trip up the west coast. But things didn't go as planned. They beat Tuesday's opponent, the Florida Panthers (10-8-3) in a shootout during that journey, but finished 0-2-1 in the back half to close out with a 2-3-1 record. 

Things weren't great on their long homestand either, but they're hoping to pull it all together for this five-game stretch at the Dome. Starting against former Flames star Tkachuk, who plays his first game back in Calgary against the team that drafted and developed him.

"Excited to play in front of our fans again," said Jonathan Huberdeau, who faces his old team for the second time in 10 days. He and MacKenzie Weegar were the centrepieces of the blockbuster deal that sent Tkachuk to Florida. "It's been a while. 

"We want to go on a little winning streak and get the team going."

Dan Vladar is the man in goal after some strong games on the road. 

Calgary Flames projected lineup

Forwards: 

Jonathan Huberdeau – Elias Lindholm – Tyler Toffoli

Dillon Dube – Nazem Kadri – Andrew Mangiapane

Adam Ruzicka – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman

Milan Lucic – Trevor Lewis – Brett Ritchie

Defence: 

Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson

MacKenzie Weegar – Chris Tanev

Nikita Zadorov – Michael Stone 

Goaltender:

Dan Vladar

Florida Panthers projected lineup

Forwards:

Nick Cousins – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart

Ryan Lomberg – Eetu Luostarinen – Colin White

Aleksi Heponiemi – Eric Staal – Patric Hornqvist

Defence:

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Brandon Montour – Marc Staal

Josh Mahura – Radko Gudas

Goalie:

Sergei Bobrovsky