Calgary Flames (12-7-3) at Detroit Red Wings (9-10-2)
When: Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. MT, Little Caesars Arena
TV: Sportsnet 360 Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan
Odds: Flames -102, Red Wings -118
The buzz
The Flames took way too many penalties in Monday night’s matchup — 10 minors, in total — and wound up on the losing end of a 4-3 scoreline.
It was a game to forget, to be sure, but at least they scored on the power-play for the fourth-straight game. It wasn’t that long ago that they were near the bottom of the league in power-play percentage, but they’ve now climbed to the 18th-best conversion rate in the league, at 19.4%.
Can they keep it going against the Red Wings? Why not? The Wings have the worst penalty kill in the league and are surviving being down a man without allowing a goal on only 68.4% of their opportunities. That’s not good.
A red-hot Flames power-play against an ice-cold Wings penalty-kill? That’s encouraging, at the very least as the Flames look to start translating some of the success they’ve had at the Saddledome, where they’re 9-3-0, into something similar on the road, where they’re only 3-4-3.
The quote
“It’s the style of play we have to come with all the time, whether you’re at home or on the road. There’s things that make our team a good hockey team and if those things are present it gives us a chance to win. It doesn’t guarantee wins, but we feel we’re going to be in games and now our power-play can help us out and win us close games. The little factors that we believe in and have done a really good job of at home, those are things we have to continue on the road.”
— Flames head coach Ryan Huska
The news
• The Red Wings have won two of their past three games, but they haven’t been particularly strong at home this season. They’re only 4-5-1 at Little Caesars Arena this year.
• After scoring one on Monday against the Sens, Yegor Sharangovich has now scored in three straight games. He had only two in the 10 games this season he had played prior to this little burst of offence, but it’s worth noting that he got off to a slow start in 2023-24, too. He looks to be rounding into form.
• Red Wings forward Patrick Kane is third among active NHL players in points against the Flames all-time. He has 25 goals and 34 assists, although Connor McDavid is biting right at his heels with 58 points, just one behind.
The projected lineup
Forwards
Pospisil-Kadri-Kuzmenko
Huberdeau-Zary-Coleman
Sharangovich-Backlund-Coronato
Lomberg-Rooney-Kirkland
Defence
Bahl-Andersson
Weegar-Miromanov
Hanley-Pachal
Goalies
Vladar
Wolf
The injuries
Anthony Mantha (knee)