More Electric Offence? Flames-Devils Game Day Preview, Notes, How to Watch

The Calgary Flames are gearing up for their second stop of a four-game road trip tonight. This time against a New Jersey Devils team with an inclination to alternate wins and losses. In 13 games since the beginning of the new year, Jersey has gone 6-6-1 and managed to never accumulate more than a two-game win or loss streak.  

The Flames have been quite the opposite. A similar 8-6-0 record since Jan. 1, but with a more peaks and valleys theme. Calgary has been through both a four-game winning streak and a four-game losing streak in the last 39 days. They enter the night on a two-game winning streak following wins over Original Six teams Chicago and Boston.  

Also on the menu are a couple familiar faces for both teams. Here is your game day preview! 

Calgary Flames (23-22-5, 51 pts) vs New Jersey Devils (25-20-3, 53 pts)       

Last Ten: Calgary (6-4-0) New Jersey (4-5-1)       

Time: 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time        

TV: Sportsnet One, Sportsnet West, MSGSN/MSG+, ESPN+    

Season Series: 0-1-0 Calgary 

Visiting the Teapot 

Fans may remember the New Jersey Devils visiting Calgary for a Dec. 9 game that resulted in a 4-2 win for the visitors. The score may reach a similar result, but the process is likely to be different. The Flames were amidst a 1-4-2 streak to start December as star goaltender Jacob Markstrom had departed the lineup, and the Flames offence simply couldn’t keep up to allowing an average of four goals against per game.  

Also offensively underperforming at the time was former Flames sniper Tyler Toffoli, who had zero points in three December games leading up to the Devils win. Toffoli recorded zero points on the night.  

Don’t expect the same this time around. The centerpiece of Craig Conroy’s first trade comes into tonight with five goals in his last four games including a hattrick against the Golden Knights on Jan. 22.  

(AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Yegor Returnhomevich 

Tonight also marks Belarusian Yegor Sharangovich’s first game back in New Jersey since being included in the aforementioned swap of players during last offseason. The 6-foot-3 sniper comes into the night with three points in his last four games and looked comfortable with fellow recent Flames acquisition Andrei Kuzmenko 

Speaking of.  

The Kuzmenkshow 

Jonathan Huberdeau played what most consider his best game in a Flames sweater on Thursday as Calgary surged past Boston to a 4-1 score. Huberdeau had a goal and two assists on the night with the creative help of newcomer Andrei Kuzmenko. The Russian sniper recorded a goal in the first five minutes of regulation with Jonathan picking up a primary assist. 

Will the chemistry carry on to tonight’s venture? Only time will tell. 

Calgary Flames Projected Lineup 

Courtesy of the Calgary Flames. 

Huberdeau-Sharangovich-Kuzmenko  

Zary-Kadri-Pospisil  

Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman  

Pelletier-Rooney-Duehr  

Weegar-Andersson  

Hanifin-Tanev  

Kylington-Pachal  

Markstrom 

Vladar 

Devils Pre-Game Workflow

Courtesy of New Jersey Hockey Now’s James Nichols. 

Ondrej Palat – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt 

Timo Meier – Erik Haula – Dawson Mercer 

Tyler Toffoli – Jack Hughes – Alexander Holtz 

Curtis Lazar – Tomas Nosek – Nathan Bastian 

Kevin Bahl – Simon Nemec 

Luke Hughes – John Marino 

Santeri Hatakka – Colin Miller 

Vitek Vanacek 

Nico Daws