Carolina Hurricanes at Calgary Flames: Lineups and Game Discussion

The Carolina Hurricanes head to the Saddledome on Tuesday night for a reunion that returns Micheal Ferland and Dougie Hamilton to Calgary for the first time since theIr offseason trade. In addition to that return, the Hurricanes will also be meeting up with a number of former mates/coaches as the tilt with the Flames also marks the first meeting against former coach Bill Peters, former first rounders Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin, as well as another former Cane in Derek Ryan.

The Canes will not only be squaring off against some familiar faces, but also the best team in the Western Conference to date. Tonight’s game also comes on the heels of Teuvo Teravainen inking a five-year extension to stay in Carolina for the foreseeable future. They will hope to pick up where they left off offensively on Sunday, as Nino Niederreiter and Lucas Wallmark added two goals each as the Canes posted their second-highest output of the season in their 7-4 win. Due to a series of defensive issues of late, Rod Brind’Amour has mixed up the defensive pairings, as he has placed Hamilton alongside Jaccob Slavin again, and moved Brett Pesce into a pairing with Justin Faulk. Below is the projected lineup:

Nino Niederreiter - Sebastian Aho - Justin Williams

Michael Ferland - Lucas Wallmark - Teuvo Teravainen

Andrei Svechnikov - Jordan Martinook - Brock McGinn

Warren Foegele - Greg McKegg - Saku Maenalanen

Jaccob Slavin - Dougie Hamilton

Brett Pesce - Justin Faulk

Calvin de Haan - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Petr Mrazek

Alex Nedeljkovic

Injuries and Scratches: Curtis McElhinney (lower body), Jordan Staal (IR upper body), Haydn Fleury (Healthy)

The Calgary Flames have put together arguably the most surprising first half of any team in the league this season. Bill Peters has gone from a “three is enough to win” strategic outlook in Carolina to steering a ship that thrives on high-octane offense provided by a turbo-powered top line that includes Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and former Cane Lindholm. Throw in the career-year from 35-year-old captain Mark Giordano, and the Flames are a surprise front-runner in the Pacific Division and Western Conference as a whole.

The Flames will be closing out their first half this evening seeking their 33rd victory of the year, and they will be sending out the following lineup in search of that win:

Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Elias Lindholm

Michael Frolik - Mikael Backlund - James Neal

Matthew Tkachuk - Mark Jankowski - Sam Bennett

Andrew Mangiapane - Derek Ryan - Garnet Hathaway

Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie

Noah Hanifin - Travis Hamonic

Oliver Kylington - Rasmus Andersson

David Rittich

Mike Smith