Calgary Flames
Game Day: Flames Host Wild Seeking Third Straight Win
Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild are in town to play the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night at the Saddledome.
The Calgary Flames (12-9-3) wrap up a five-game homestand Wednesday night with the Minnesota Wild (13-9-2) in town owning a nearly identical record. The Flames have been pretty good lately, earning wins in three of their four games so far.
Dan Vladar has been in net for each of them and is expected to start again in the finale.
He wasn't the only start on Monday night's 3-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes. Nazem Kadri had a massive game to snap a personal drought. The prize of free agency scored the winning goal on the powerplay in the third period to go with a pair of assists.
Dillon Dube and Elias Lindholm also scored, with Lindholm's marker giving the Flames a second goal in three man-advantage opportunities. It was a sloppy game but the two points and special teams performances were critical. The Flames penalty killers were perfect on the night.
A big reason was Vladar, who didn't have to stop many pucks — facing just 20 on the night — but made a few timely saves to avoid a disappointing finish.
The Flames can win three straight for the first time since their 3-0 start to the season and are looking to put some wins together to climb in the Pacific Division standings.
"You don't want to be up and down," Noah Hanifin said on Tuesday. "You want to stay consistent and get on a roll and that's something we need to do."
The Wild are on a four-game win streak and have won six of their last seven. They haven't all been easy.
Sunday took a shootout to solve, with the Wild escaping a 6-5 decision over the Dallas Stars after building a 5-1 lead after two periods.
Kirill Kaprizov is one of the league's elite players and someone to keep an eye on. He's amassed 16 goals and 32 points so far.
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
Minnesota Wild Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Kirill Kaprizov – Sam Steel – Mats Zuccarello
Jordan Greenway – Joel Eriksson Ek – Marcus Foligno
Nic Petan – Frederick Gaudreau – Matt Boldy
Ryan Reaves – Connor Dewar – Mason Shaw
Defence:
Jake Middleton – Jared Spurgeon
Alex Goligoski – Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill – Calen Addison
Goalie:
Marc-Andre Fleury
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