The Calgary Flames are looking to score a second straight upset win. But it will come without a key player.
Calgary has confirmed that Devin Cooley will man the net on Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild, as reported by Daily Faceoff via Pat Steinberg.
Cooley has been up and down so far, with a 1-2-0 record, an .868 save percentage, and a 4.00 GAA. That said, Cooley was the hot hand vs. the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, so he deserves yet another start. Cooley finished the game with a .944 save percentage, making 34 saves as the Hurricanes shot the puck 36 times.
The bad news? Mikael Backlund doesn’t look like he will suit up for this one. Steinberg reported the news when relaying that Cooley would get the start. NHL.com also listed Backlund as “injured” in their lineup projections.
Calgary Flames Projected Lines And Pairings vs. Minnesota
Aydar Suneiv, Morgan Frost, and Yegor Sharangovich are the projected first liners for this one. Frost leads the Flames with three goals this season and is tied for first with five points alongside Joel Farabee and Matt Coronato.
Coronato and Farabee are slated to flank Ben Jones. Jones is making his regular-season Flames debut and is doing so against a familiar opponent. Jones suited up 54 times for the Wild and recorded three points. But he was excellent in the faceoff circle, with a 51.8 faceoff win percentage. He was also physical, landing 109 hits.
Matvei Gridin, Martin Pospisil, and Ryan Strome are the projected third liners, while Brennan Othmann, Jonathan Castagna, and Adam Klapka look like the fourth liners. Othmann and Klapka will bring further physicality into Thursday night’s matchup. Castagna has also brought a physical presence.
Kevin Bahl and Simon Nemec look like the top pair, and both lead the Flames’ skaters with over 21 minutes of average total ice time. Jacob Middleton and Zach Whitecloud are the projected second pairing, and Yan Kuznetsov and Zayne Perekh look like the bottom pairing.
Calgary Faces A Tall Task Against The Wild
If the dominoes fall correctly on Thursday night, the Flames could gain ground in the Pacific Division. But the Wild have an early-season sense of urgency. Minnesota’s 14 points are currently tied for first in the Central Division with the Utah Mammoth, and the Central is one of the NHL’s toughest divisions early on.
Meanwhile, the Flames can leapfrog the Vancouver Canucks (5 points) and Los Angeles Kings (4 points). Calgary just needs a win and to see a regulation loss from Vancouver, plus a regulation or overtime loss from the Kings.
That will be a tough task with the still relatively inexperienced Cooley in the net. But if he emulates his performance from Sunday, the Flames could be in good shape. Still, they will need somebody to step up and provide leadership without Backlund on the ice. That gives them an even tougher challenge when the puck drops at 9:00 p.m. EDT.
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