The Calgary Flames are gearing up to face the Seattle Kraken and are down a primary goalie. They are in for a challenge on Friday night.
With Devin Cooley shelved, the Flames will roll with Dustin Wolf, per Pat Steinberg. Unfortunately for Wolf, he has played the Kraken twice and allowed six goals in each matchup. He faced a combined 59 shots on goal and made just 47 saves. That is good for just a .797 save percentage.
Right now, the Flames don’t have another choice but to give Wolf a mulligan vs. Seattle. Wolf also hasn’t played well against anyone else. In his other four matchups, he has an .862 save percentage, has faced 109 shots, and made 94 saves. Still, he notched a win earlier in October over the Anaheim Ducks when he stopped 23 of 25 shots.
Despite his poor performances this season against the Kraken, Wolf should look at this as the perfect redemption opportunity. If he does that, the narrative can start changing on Friday night. Ideally, his skaters will help him out.
Calgary Flames Projected Lines And Pairings vs. Kraken
Pat Steinberg also shared the projected lines and pairings at 12:50 p.m. EDT on Friday. Once again, Mikael Backlund should center Joel Farabee and Matt Coronato. Farabee is within striking distance of getting back to a point-per-game pace, with 11 in 12 games.
Yegor Sharangovich and Aydar Suniev are slated to flank Morgan Frost. Suniev has four points in nine games, and he can get back onto the half-point-per-game pace with a strong performance.
Matvei Gridin, Martin Pospisil, and Ryan Strome are projected to take the third line vs. Seattle. Pospisil cleared the 50-hit mark and has 51 for the season. He is on an 84-game pace to land 357 if he keeps going at the same rate.
Maxim Tsyplakov and Adam Klapka look to center Jonathan Castagna on the fourth line. Tsyplakov will make his seventh appearance.
Kevin Bahl and Simon Nemec are slated to be the first pairing, while Jake Middleton and Zach Whitecloud are projected to line up behind them. Nemec can sneak his way back over the half-point-per-game column with a big outing vs. Seattle. Yan Kuznetsov and Zayne Perekh are slotted for the third pairing. Perekh has three points in his last five contests.
Flames Will Take On A Surprising Seattle Kraken Team
Seattle has been one of the NHL’s most surprising teams this season. They are eighth in the league with 48 goals scored in 13 contests, good for 3.7 per game heading into Friday.
This gives Wolf a chance to show he can match up well against a tough hockey team, and for the Flames to further show that they have grown in this season’s first month. Calgary can also climb into fifth place in the Pacific with a win, which would put them within striking distance (three points) of a top-four spot.
That is something few saw coming as October reaches its twilight. The Calgary Flames have shown that, since their last two meetings against the Kraken, they are capable of stringing together good, solid games. For Wolf and Co., this is the opportunity they should be looking for.
Calgary Flames’ Goalie Decision Sets Up a Difficult Rematch Against Kraken