Washington Capitals (33-11-5) at Calgary Flames (24-17-7)
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. MT, Scotiabank Saddledome
TV: Sportsnet West. Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan
Odds: Flames +130, Capitals -156
The buzz
It’s about as hard a set of back-to-back games as you can get in the NHL this year.
On Sunday night, the Flames fell to the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets. It wasn’t the type of loss you lose too much sleep over, seeing as it was their second game in 24 hours.
On Tuesday, the schedule-makers aren’t providing them with any relief. Instead, they’ll take the ice at the Saddledome against the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals.
That’s the two best teams in the NHL in three nights … and that ain’t easy.
There are plotlines here, there and everywhere on Tuesday night.
A win would likely send a message to the rest of the league. Andrew Mangiapane returns to Calgary for the first time since being traded in the spring. He spent the first 417 games of his NHL career with the Flames after the organization selected him in the sixth round, 166th overall, of the 2015 NHL Draft.
And of course, Alex Ovechkin’s hunt for the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring record is as big a story as there is in the NHL this year. He scored his 22nd goal of the year last Thursday night and his career total stands at 875, just 19 behind the Great One.
The quote
“I actually thought we played a pretty good road game. There were certain situations where I felt we could use a save, which isn’t something we have said a lot this year, and then when we made a few mistakes they were able to capitalize.”
— Flames head coach Ryan Huska, after the Flames lost 5-2 to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night with Dan Vladar in net
The news
- The Capitals had their six-game winning streak snapped by the Vancouver Canucks in a 2-1 defeat on Saturday night. They were also on a 12-game point streak (9-0-3).
- With Dan Vladar not at his best against the Jets on Sunday, it seems all but certain that Dustin Wolf will be back between the pipes on Tuesday.
- Rory Kerins picked up four points in five games during his first NHL stint, but was reassigned to the Calgary Wranglers for more AHL seasoning on Monday morning.
- Check back after the morning skate for more updates.
The projected lineup
Forwards
Huberdeau-Kadri-Pelletier
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Pospisil-Sharangovich-Kuzmenko
Lomberg-Rooney-Bishop
Defence
Hanley-Andersson
Weegar-Miromanov
Bean-Pachal
Goalies
Wolf
Vladar
The injuries
Justin Kirkland and Anthony Mantha are both lost for the season, while Connor Zary remains out indefinitely with a knee injury. There’s been no update on Kevin Bahl, who was hit from behind into the boards on Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild.
In case you missed it
MacKenzie Weegar was passed over by the Canadian team for the 4 Nations Face-Off when it was initially chosen, but with the team short a defenceman could he get a call?