Calgary Flames (13-9-5) at Dallas Stars (16-10-0)
When: Sunday 6 p.m.. MT, American Airlines Arena
TV: Sportsnet West. Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan
Odds: Stars -236, Flames +194
The buzz
If you go back to the spring, there was a lot of talk about the Calgary Flames trying to replicate “The Dallas Model” as they attempted to build back towards being a contender.
On Sunday, Flames fans will have the chance to see what that model can look like when the team takes on the Stars in Dallas.
That model basically added up to the Stars never intentionally tanking but hitting home runs in the NHL Draft, and the likes of Jason Robertson, Miro Heiskanen and Jake Oettinger have developed into stars who keep them consistently in contention.
While the Stars haven’t gotten off to the fastest start this season, they’re still sitting in third-place in the Central Division and have the feel of a team that’s going to gradually build towards getting hot as the playoffs approach.
The quote
“The most bittersweet feeling. Absolutely devastated to have my season cut short. I already miss being at the rink with my friends everyday, but this has only made me more hungry and determing to come back even stronger … I will be back.”
— Flames forward Justin Kirkland on Instagram after it was confirmed he’ll miss the rest of the season after undergoing ACL surgery
The news
- Flames assistant coach Brad Larsen will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team to attend to a family matter, the team announced on Sunday morning
- If Joel Hanley is in the lineup against the Stars, he’ll be playing his 200th NHL game. There’d be some synchronicity to that, given that he spent parts of six seasons playing for the Stars.
- The Stars are 10-2-0 at American Airlines this year, while the Flames are 3-6-4 on the road.
- Updates coming after morning skate
The projected lineup
- Forwards
- Huberdeau-Kadri-Pospisil
- Sharangovich-Backlund-Coronato
- Coleman-Zary-Duehr
- Pelletier-Rooney-Lomberg
- Defence
- Bahl-Andersson
- Weegar-Miromanov
- Bean-Pachal
- Goalies
- Wolf
- Vladar
The injuries
- Justin Kirkland (lower body), Anthony Mantha (knee)
In case you missed it
Andrei Kuzmenko has been out of the lineup for the last two games but has been putting in a lot of extra time on the ice to try to find his scoring touch again.
The Flames are also searching for solutions for their penalty-killing troubles.