Calgary Flames (12-8-4) at Pittsburgh Penguins (9-12-4)
When: Saturday, 5 p.m. MT, PPG Paints Arena
TV: Sportsnet West. Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan
Odds: Flames +105, Penguins -126
The buzz
The Flames are shooting Saturday to salvage one win out of a four-game trip that started with a setback in Ottawa and continued with an overtime defeat in Detroit and then Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Blue Jackets in Columbus. Their road woes are starting to become a worry. They’re now 3-5-4 away from the Saddledome.
While the Penguins have been swimming near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, they seem to be building some momentum with wins in their past two outings. It’s a back-to-back scenario for them, too: They earned a 2-1 victory on Black Friday in Boston.
The quote
“We have to be better on the road. We can’t just win home games. You have to win the road games too and we’re not doing this, as of this moment.”
— Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson after Friday’s loss in Columbus
The news
- Justin Kirkland, who scored the shootout winner when the Flames and Penguins hooked up in late October in Calgary, exited in Friday’s first period due to a lower-body injury. There was no update post-game on Kirkland’s status. If he’s a no-go in Pittsburgh, towering winger Adam Klapka would draw in.
- Just four days after arriving in a trade from the Nashville Predators, Philip Tomasino buried the game-winner for the Penguins in Friday’s 2-1 triumph in Boston. It was his first strike of the season.
- Thanks to Nazem Kadri’s snipe against the Blue Jackets, the Flames have now scored a power-play goal in six straight games. That was about the only good news for Kadri in Columbus, where he finished with a minus-3 rating.
- In 22 career contests against the Flames, superstar centre Sidney Crosby has racked up 13 goals and 27 points. Crosby is now up to 1,020 career assists, all of those on behalf of the Penguins. There are only five legends — Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Wayne Gretzky and Ray Bourque — who have notched more helpers with a single franchise.
- If Flames rearguard Joel Hanley remains in the lineup, he’ll be skating Saturday in his 200th NHL game.
The projected lineup
- Forwards
- Pospisil-Kadri-Kuzmenko
- Huberdeau-Zary-Coleman
- Sharangovich-Backlund-Coronato
- Lomberg-Rooney-Klapka
- Defence
- Bahl-Andersson
- Weegar-Miromanov
- Hanley-Pachal
- Goalies
- Vladar
- Wolf
The injuries
-
- Justin Kirkland (lower body), Anthony Mantha (knee)
In case you missed it
It was an emotional afternoon in Columbus as the Flames visited Nationwide Arena for the first time since Johnny Gaudreau’s death. Wes Gilbertson was there to chat with Johnny’s friends and with fans who travelled to Ohio to pay their respects.