When was the last time you can recall an NHL player being hit by a car?
In the words of the mid-2000s hard rock band Staind:
It’s been a while.
December 9, 2009, featured Isles defenceman Brendan Witt being hit by a gold GMC Yukon while crossing the street. He managed to jump up on the hood before contact. He allegedly hit the ground violently after being launched a few feet.
The 34-year-old Witt went on to play later that night in a 6-2 loss to the Flyers.
Former flame Cory Sarich saw his hopes of re-signing with the Colorado Avalanche take a hit after he was cut off by a grey F-350 along the Windermere Loop Road on July 23, 2014. He was coming off back surgery and biking to get himself back to game shape.
He slid under the truck and it ran over him — crushing four vertebrae, causing major burns from the muffler and a big cut on his head — among surely plenty of other minor injuries. The Avs eventually traded for Brad Stuart to take the role he was shooting for, but he ended up getting into pretty good shape all things considered.
Flat Rass
Rasmus Andersson’s incident yesterday sounds more precautionary.
The Flames #1 defenseman was struck by an undisclosed vehicle yesterday while crossing the road on an electric scooter.
The 26-year-old was taken to the hospital and underwent a battery of tests. He was later released. He has been listed as day-to-day and will miss tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.
This will be the first time the Flames #1 will miss a game in his NHL career. He had played 349 games prior.
Dennis Gilbert has been recalled in his stead.
That would make three Flames players that likely feel like they have been hit by trucks. The other two being Nazem Kadri and Dillon Dube, who were both wrecking-balled by New York Ranger Jacob Trouba on Monday night. You have to wonder if there was a Flames player on hand to drop the gloves in Rasmus’ incident.
Establishing Physicality
In the wake of such a violent game, the follow-up has the potential to be a lot of fun to watch. Beyond Moritz Seider and Ben Chiarot, the Wings don’t have much of a physical presence.
Their lack of truculence has proven a weakness. Earlier in the season, their top two defensemen were sat down by Ryan Reaves.
First we see Reaves level Red Wing defenceman Filip Hronek with a massive open ice hit.
Chiarot attempts to stand up for him, but it doesn’t work out. Detroit looked absolutely deflated after the fight.
The Flames have the tools to do the same. They have also had a few days on the road to reflect on the loss to the Rangers.
Pressing the Attack
Taking in the Red Wings’ most recent game, a 5-2 loss to the Oilers, Detroit has some defensive issues to work out.
Their first goal against was a massive miscue that led to Ryan McLeod walking into the low slow slot alone.
The second goal against started with lazy neutral zone play feeding the puck right into the trap on the offensive blue line. Defenceman, Robert Hagg, takes a hit trying to take the zone and two Oilers are flying in on a 2-on-1 the other way. The cherry on top was left wing, Jonatan Berggren, coasting 15 feet behind on a backcheck that could have made it a 2-on-2.
In other words, Detroit has a very young team that appears to have some defensive habits that need to be ironed out. Calgary is the sixth oldest team in the league with an average age of 27.61 and should be expected to play with more structure — although we all know by now that the 22-23 Flames never perform as expected.
Who to Start?
It’s annoying that Daniel Vladar can go on such an incredible run and go entirely unrewarded in terms of starts. The 25-year-old is 10-0-3 in his last thirteen games. That ties him with Brian Elliot for the longest streak without a regulation loss.
His last start was a 5-2 win over the (at the time) division-leading Seattle Kraken. He stood on his head to help kill four straight penalties in the second half while protecting a 3-1 lead.
You can argue that the team plays worse in front of 1A Jacob Markstrom, but it’s a tough sell arguing the results. Vladar’s last regulation loss came on November 26. Over that time Markstrom has put up a 5-8-4 record and a .894 save percentage.
To his credit, Markstrom had a solid game against the Rangers. His recovery was awful on the OT winner and his save percentage didn’t look great — .848 — but he made some huge saves.
He also has a 2-0-0 record against Detroit since joining the Flames. His career record against the Red Wings is 5-1-1 with a .950 save percentage.
Vladar is projected to start tonight. You have to wonder what the Flames’ record would look like if the simple “lose in regulation, the other guy starts” rule was implemented.
Calgary Flames Lineup
Projected lineup courtesy of Pat Steinberg. @Fan960Steinberg
New QB
In the words of the mid-2000s hard rock band Staind:
It’s been a while.
That being It’s Been a While since we’ve seen the Flames powerplay units with anyone but Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin running the top of the umbrella formation. Both units run with only one defenseman. Tonight MacKenzie Weegar gets a kick at the can on the second unit.
Detroit Red Wings Lineup
Projected lineup courtesy of JJ From Kansas of SB Nation. @JJfromKansas
Tyler Bertuzzi - Dylan Larkin - Lucas Raymond
Michael Rasmussen - Andrew Copp - Robby Fabbri
Jonatan Berggren - Joe Veleno - David Perron
Filip Zadina - Pius Suter - Oskar Sundqvist
Jake Walman - Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot - Filip Hronek
Olli Määttä - Robert Hagg
Ville Husso
Magnus Hellberg
Rental Preview
UFA-to-be comes into tonight potentially starting a hot streak. He scored the opening goal against Edmonton by getting out front of the net at the right moment for a one-timer. The 27-year-old has been plagued by injury this season but may have a reduced price due to that.
Only six points in 18 games isn’t great. He had 62 points in 68 games last year. He has solid offensive instincts and a quick release off the pass.
His $4,750,000 annual cap hit would easily fit within the Flames’ projected $4,436,269 by the deadline. The nephew of Todd Bertuzzi has $1,620,000 remaining on the contract.
Game time is 5:00 pm MST. Catch the broadcast on Sportsnet One in Canada, and Bally Sports Detroit in the States.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via capfriendly.com, nhl.com, denverpost.com and naturalstattrick.com.
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