Game Day: Flames Play Limping Flyers in Battle of Attrition

The Calgary Flames (8-7-2) climbed above .500 again with their shootout win over the Panthers in Florida. On Monday night, they take on the Philadelphia Flyers (7-7-4) as the road trip hits the midway point. 

Winners of three of their last four games, the Flames are finding their footing again after a seven-game losing streak spoiled their hot 5-1 start to the season. They've dealt with some adversity through injuries and at the goaltending position. Consistency hasn't been their strong suit, especially at even strength, but they seem to have found some balance and depth up front. The back end is still a work in progress but Michael Stone returned to practice with Connor Mackey on Monday morning. 

That gave the Flames eight healthy defencemen. A luxury, as one reporter suggested during Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter's availability. 

"Depends how six play," countered Sutter. 

Although Stone seems to be on the brink of a return, the Flames lost forward Brett Ritchie, who was hurt in the Panthers game. 

"He got double injured," said Sutter. "So he's got two minor injuries that don't allow him to skate today."

The Flyers are familiar with injuries. According to Philly Hockey Now, it looks like Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton will not play Monday night. They were both hurt on the team's recent road trip.

They are without six injured forwards: Konecny, Laughton, Cam Atkinson, Sean Couturier, James van Riemsdyk and Wade Allison.

The Flyers were also in a shootout on Saturday but lost to the Montreal Canadiens after Cole Caufield scored the tying goal with 1.9 seconds left on the clock. It was their sixth straight loss after a great start to the season. Sound familiar?

Carter Hart gets the start. Please read that with a Philly accent. 

Calgary Flames projected lineup

Forwards: 

Adam Ruzicka – Elias Lindholm – Tyler Toffoli
Dillon Dube – Nazem Kadri – Andrew Mangiapane
Jonathan Huberdeau – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman
Milan Lucic – Kevin Rooney – Trevor Lewis

Defence:

Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson
Nikita Zadorov – MacKenzie Weegar
Dennis Gilbert – Chris Tanev

Goaltender:

Jacob Markstrom

Philadelphia Flyers projected lineup (via Philly Hockey Now)

Forwards: 

Joel Farabee – Morgan Frost – Owen Tippett
Kevin Hayes – Noah Cates – Zack MacEwen
Max Willman – Patrick Brown – Tanner Laczynski
Nick Deslauriers – Lukas Sedlak – Kieffer Bellows

Defence: 

Ivan Provorov – Tony DeAngelo
Travis Sanheim.- Justin Braun
Nick Seeler – Rasmus Ristolainen

Goaltender: 

Carter Hart