Colorado Avalanche (31-22-2) at Calgary Flames (26-20-7)
When: Thursday, 7 p.m. MT, Scotiabank Saddledome
TV: Sportsnet West. Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan
Odds: Avalanche -192, Flames +153
The buzz
Heading into the off-season last year, most people were expecting Oliver Kylington to re-sign with the Calgary Flames.
The smooth-skating blueliner had returned to the team after missing a season and a half to focus on his mental health and had reiterated that he wanted to extend his stay in Calgary.
“I think everyone knows that I want to be a part of this team and this organization,” Kylington told Postmedia at the time.
A deal was never reached, though. No contract was hammered out and Kylington instead hit free-agency and waited five weeks before signing with the Colorado Avalanche.
It was a disappointing end to Kylington’s time with the Flames, who selected him in the second round, 60th overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.
It’s possible, but not guaranteed, that Kylington will be in the Avalanche lineup on Thursday night, and it will be interesting to see how the Flames faithful react to his return. Kylington was always affable and spoke candidly about his mental health after returning to the team. The way his Flames tenure ended shouldn’t sour that.
His time in Denver hasn’t gone completely smoothly, either, as he has been limited to only eight games and has been sidelined with a lower-body injury for the past 31. With Josh Manson leaving Tuesday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks, though, it’s quite possible that Kylington will be making his return against the Flames.
The quote
“I think (the defence) has done a good job of trying to pick up the slack in Kevin’s absence, but I do think we miss a player that is like Solo. So there is a time and a place where they need an opportunity to see if they’re able to take that next step. I think now is a good time.”
— Flames head coach Ryan Huska on Ilya Solovyov, who was called-up from the Calgary Wranglers on Wednesday morning
The news
• This is a matchup between the Western Conference’s two wild-card teams, with the Avalanche five points ahead of the Flames in the first wild-card spots, although they’ve played two fewer games.
• The Avalanche were not happy with their performance in Vancouver on Tuesday night. They fell 3-0.
• Despite an uneven performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Flames’ 6-3 loss on Tuesday, it’s expected that Dustin Wolf will again be in the starting lineup against the Avs.
• Huska wouldn’t confirm that Solovyov would be in the lineup against the Avs, but the Flames head coach wasn’t pleased with the defensive performance against the Leafs. Solovyov is a true stay-at-home defenceman and has been great on the Wranglers penalty kill this year, which is an area where the Flames need work.
• Check back after Thursday’s morning skate for lineup news.
The projected lineup
Forwards
Huberdeau-Kadri-Farabee
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Pospisil-Frost-Sharangovich
Lomberg-Rooney-Klapka
Defence
Hanley-Andersson
Bean-Weegar
Solovyov-Pachal
Goalies
Wolf
Vladar
The injuries
Kevin Bahl is week-to-week with an upper-body ailment but is back skating. He joins Justin Kirkland, Anthony Mantha and Connor Zary on Calgary’s injured list. Kirkland and Mantha are both lost for the season, while Zary has been skating away from the team.