TUESDAY
Chicago Blackhawks (17-17-6) at Calgary Flames (20-16-5)
7 p.m. MT, Scotiabank Saddledome, Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 The Fan
THE BIG MATCHUP
Flames C Sean Monahan vs. Blackhawks C Jonathan Toews
After going one-for-13 in the faceoff circle on Sunday against the Vancouver Canucks, expect a bounce-back game from Flames pivot Sean Monahan. He’ll likely see a pile of ice time against the Blackhawks No. 1 draw man, Jonathan Toews. Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Blackhawks captain was held off the scoresheet against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday and finished the game a minus-one. He’ll be motivated to ring in the New Year properly.
FIVE STORYLINES FOR THE GAME
NO. 300 FOR TALBOT
It might not have been the way he drew it up, but when he relieved David Rittich in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks , the 32-year-old Caledonia, Ont. native logged his 300th NHL game. “The route I took to get here wasn’t an easy road by any means,” Talbot said. “So, to hit that milestone (Sunday) was pretty special … you can never take anything for granted in this league. You never know what’s going to happen from year to year.”
LINEUP NOTES
Flames D TJ Brodie took Monday’s practice as a maintenance day. Meanwhile, when the team took their line rushes, it appeared that forwards Sam Bennett and Zac Rinaldo were the extras. Interim head coach Geoff Ward didn’t reveal his goaltending matchup for Tuesday’s game; whether or not they’d go back to David Rittich in net after he was pulled in the first period of Sunday’s game or start Cam Talbot who stopped 19 of 20 in relief.
RINGING IN 2020 RIGHT
The Flames are striving for consistency in 2020, especially after their current pattern of winning one game, losing the next, and winning the next one. For them, it’s about responding from a subpar 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. “For us, if anything else, we have to understand that coming off two divisional games, we still have to be emotionally engaged in the game (Tuesday),” said interim head coach Geoff Ward. “Sometimes after you come off two games like that, you can take the foot off the accelerator a little bit.”
HAVING A BALL
Following Monday’s practice, the Flames kicked around the ball again in a fun handball-soccer mix . “It’s important you leave the rink feeling good about yourself today,” said interim head coach Geoff Ward. “We’ve gotta get ready for a game (Tuesday). It’s important to put (Sunday’s) game behind us and end practice feeling good with a clear head and get ready for (Tuesday).” After they play the Blackhawks, the Flames host the New York Rangers on Jan. 2 before heading out on a two-game road trip to Minnesota (on Jan. 5) and Chicago (on Jan. 7).
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS
Sunday’s 3-2 overtime win at Columbus was the start of a three-game road trip for the Blackhawks. After ringing in the new year in Calgary, they’ll fly to Vancouver to play the Canucks on Jan. 2. Then, they have a four-game homestand next week which includes a date Tuesday against the Flames … Head coach Jeremy Colliton hails from Blackie, Alta., and celebrated his one-year coaching anniversary on Nov. 6 when he took over for Joel Quenneville who was fired last year.
FLAMES LINEUP
Forwards
Matthew Tkachuk — Elias Lindholm — Andrew Mangiapane
Johnny Gaudreau — Sean Monahan — Mikael Backlund
Milan Lucic — Derek Ryan — Dillon Dube
Tobias Rieder — Mark Jankowski — Michael Frolik
Defence
Mark Giordano — TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin — Travis Hamonic
Oliver Kylington — Rasmus Andersson
Goaltenders
David Rittich
Cam Talbot
BLACKHAWKS LINEUP
Forwards
Ryan Carpenter — Jonathan Toews — Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat — Kirby Dach — Dylan Strome
Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — John Quenneville
Alex Nylander — Zack Smith — Matthew Highmore
Defence
Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist
Erik Gustafsson — Connor Murphy
Slater Koekkoek — Dennis Gilbert
Goaltenders
Robin Lehner
Corey Crawford
INJURIES
Blackhawks — D Brent Seabrook (shoulder, hips), D Calvin de Haan (shoulder), LW Drake Caggiula (concussion), RW Andrew Shaw (concussion), LW Brandon Saad (ankle)
Flames — D Juuso Valimaki (knee)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power play (prior to Monday’s action)
Blackhawks: 15.1% (19-for-126, 26th)
Flames: 18.9% (23-for-122, 16th)
Penalty kill (prior to Monday’s action)
Blackhawks: 82.1% (9th)
Flames: 84.0% (4th)
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
