Updated 2x at 11:36 AM: The 25-21-and-5 Detroit Red Wings head into a difficult stretch of 3 games to be played over the next 4 nights as they take on the 25-18-and-7 Calgary Flames (10 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/CBC/Sportsnet/City TV/97.1 FM), and Calgary is something of a mixed bag team-wise.
The Flames made a very big trade recently, adding Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee from Philadelphia, and Calgary sits one point ahead of tomorrow night’s opponent, the Vancouver Canucks, in the Western Conference’s Wild Card race.
The Flames have actually won 4 of their past 6 games and 6 of their past 10, but their 4-1 win over Anaheim on Thursday snapped a 2-game losing streak.
Goaltender Dustin Wolf has been excellent in the Flames’ crease, but the Flames don’t score a ton of goals:
Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen explained why the Flames needed to bring in Frost and Farabee while previewing tonight’s game–they need help in the goal-scoring department…
Detroit’s four-game road trip continues Saturday (10 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network) with a game against the Calgary Flames. Detroit is 1-0 after downing the Edmonton Oilers Thursday 3-2 in a shootout. The Red Wings are 12-4-1 in their 17 games under McLellan. The Flames are 4-4 in their last eight. Calgary ranks 28th in scoring (2.68 goals per game) and 19th in goals-against per game (2.92).
The Calgary Sun’s Daniel Austin notes that “the buzz” going into tonight’s game will involve the Flames’ new acquisitions…
Shortly after Thursday night’s win over the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy pulled off a big trade with the Philadelphia Flyers that could change the complexion of the rest of the season.
Gone are Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier, now with the Flyers.
In return, the Flames got centre Morgan Frost and winger Joel Farabee, two forwards in their mid-20s with plenty of NHL pedigree.
Speaking post-game on Thursday, head coach Ryan Huska said he already had an idea in his head of where the two newcomers will fit in, but nobody outside of the Saddledome seems to be sure. We’ll find out more at the morning skate.
In the Red Wings, the Flames will be taking on a team that’s fighting for its playoff life in a tight Eastern Conference race. They beat the Edmonton Oilers in a shootout and have won four in a row, so the Flames will be hoping their new teammates fit in fast and the whole group can piece together a good performance.
If I may be honest, CalgaryFlames.com’s Ty Pilson offers a better scouting report of Detroit’s team in his “5 Things – Flames vs. Red Wings” preview, but “The Guys We Just Traded For Are So Cool!” mania is in full effect in Calgary:
Players to Watch
Flames – Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee
Pretty hard not to go with the new guys, as all eyes will be on them less than 48 hours after being acquired by the Flames.
Frost has 11 goals and 25 points in 49 skates this season, including a pair of game-winners, while Farabee has eight goals and 19 points in 50 games.
“With everything going on, I think Frosty and I have talked about just how nice it is that we have each other at a time like this,” said Farabee. “It’s obviously something neither of us have ever been through, so just to have that familiarity, coming to the rink with somebody will be nice. But we’re super-pumped.”
Red Wings – Dylan Larkin
The Detroit captain had a tally against the Oilers and has collected two goals and six points in his last five games. He sits second in team scoring with 22 goals and 48 points.
Here are a few more stats from Data Skrive…
BOTTOM LINE: The Calgary Flames host the Detroit Red Wings after the Red Wings took down the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in a shootout.
Calgary is 25-18-7 overall and 16-7-3 in home games. The Flames are 7-12-2 when they commit more penalties than their opponent.
Detroit has a 25-21-5 record overall and a 10-10-3 record in road games. The Red Wings have a 4-6-3 record in games they have more penalties than their opponent.
The matchup Saturday is the second time these teams meet this season. The Red Wings won 2-1 in overtime in the last matchup.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jonathan Huberdeau has 19 goals and 17 assists for the Flames. Matthew Coronato has four goals and three assists over the last 10 games.
Alex DeBrincat has 21 goals and 18 assists for the Red Wings. Marco Kasper has six goals and four assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Flames: 6-4-0, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.4 assists, 4.8 penalties and 13.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game.
Red Wings: 6-3-1, averaging three goals, 5.3 assists, 2.6 penalties and 5.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game.
And here are tonight’s game notes:
Update: Detroit Hockey Now’s Tim Robinson posted a Wings-Flames preview as well:
The Red Wings have a record similar to that of the Flames and tomorrow’s opponent, the Vancouver Canucks. The Flames and Canucks are eighth and ninth in the West a point apart. That means they are putting a premium on beating the Red Wings as well.
As for the Wings, J.T. Compher is on the trip but is still listed as day-to-day, which means Dominik Shine is back in the lineup.
Calgary, meanwhile, will makr the debuts of Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, the former Philadelphia Flyers whom the Flames acquired on Thursday. They’re listed as linemates on Calgary’s third line for tonight.
January was a productive month for the Red Wings, who went 10-3-1 during the month. There are just over two months left in the regular season, and as the days have gotten longer, Detroit’s prospects have gotten brighter.
The first three months of the season were hard to watch, but the way things have gone under Todd McLellan, the second three months of the season should be a lot more interesting.
Update #2: Here’s NHL.com’s game preview:
Detroit Red Wings at Calgary Flames (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY, FDSNDET)
The Red Wings (25-21-5) continue their Western Canada swing looking for their fifth straight win. They’ve outscored opponents 13-6 in four consecutive victories, which followed a three-game skid (0-2-1). Center Dylan Larkin has at least a point in 14 of his past 17 games with 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in that span. The Flames (25-18-7) are coming off of a 4-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday and could see the debuts of forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, who were acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday for forwards Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier, a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a seventh-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft.
