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Vancouver Canucks face fired-up Flames to kick off six-game road trip |
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Saturday October 6 - Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames - 7 p.m. - CBC, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 1 GP, 1-0-0, 2 pts, second in Pacific Division
Calgary Flames: 1 GP, 0-1-0, 0 pts, seventh in Pacific Division
Travis Green won't be messing with his winning lineup. The Vancouver Canucks will be icing the same crew that beat the Calgary Flames 5-2 for Saturday's rematch at the snowy Saddledome.
The game kicks off an early-season road swing that will take the team through the southeastern U.S. next week before wrapping up in Pittsburgh and Winnipeg, so there won't be many easy points to be had.
Though it's a long trip, the team flew out of Vancouver on Friday. As promised, a few of the boys posted photos from their team dinner in Calgary on Friday night. The festivities included a cake for Sven Baertschi, who was celebrating his 26th birthday.
The Canucks may need to have each other's backs, as the Flames seem like they could be aiming for retribution on Saturday night.
I still think this is dumb. If Travis Hamonic hadn't been injured in his fight with Erik Gudbranson, the matter would be considered to be settled: Hamonic already exacted his pound of flesh for Guddy's first-shift hit on Dillon Dube.
Saturday will be Prout's first game in a Flames uniform. He was acquired by the team from the New Jersey Devils last December, in exchange for our old friend Eddie Lack, immediately after having cleared waivers with the Devils. The Flames promptly assigned him to the Stockton Heat, where he had nine points and 42 penalty minutes in 34 games.
The Flames lost some toughness in their regular lineup this summer when they dealt Micheal Ferland to the Carolina Hurricanes. New coach Bill Peters, preparing for his home debut at the Saddledome, seems to be doing what he can to make a good impression on the fanbase in Calgary.
"When this team has its back against the wall, there’s enough character in this room to take care of each other and support one another" Prout told Eric Francis of Sportsnet in Calgary. "Any time a teammate gets hurt, you take note of it. If you get a chance to finish the body, play hard, play physical, make it uncomfortable for them, we’re going to do it."
Prout will be skating on Calgary's third defense pairing with rookie Juuso Valimaki. The 16th overall pick from 2017 had a decent debut on Wednesday at Rogers Arena but played just 10:19, all at even strength. He and Prout will likely be used even less on Saturday.
The Flames also called up tough-guy forward Anthony Peluso from Stockton this morning.
If he's not playing, the timing is a bit odd; the Flames don't play again until Tuesday, in Nashville.
Now that Antoine Roussel is skating with the main group, we have a little more information on his concussion situation:
If all goes according to plan, the Canucks' next roster cut could come soon:
Speaking of the farm team, the Utica Comets got off to a good start but ultimately dropped a 7-3 decision to the Toronto Marlies in their season opener on Friday night.
The score doesn't really tell the whole story. The Comets got off to a hot start, outshooting the Marlies 9-2, and Reid Boucher opened the scoring with a power-play goal, just 59 seconds into the first period. Toronto responded with four straight goals on Richard Bachman in the second, then the Comets pulled back within one when Zack MacEwen scored on the power play, then Boucher added his second of the night.
With Utica pressing for the equalizer, Carl Grundstrom made it 5-3 for Toronto with a shot through a screen midway through the third period, then the Marlies added a pair of garbage goals to finish things off.
Up front, the Tanners (MacMaster and Kero) both figured prominently in the offense, and Adam Gaudette tied Boucher for the team lead in shots, with seven. On the back end, Olli Juolevi finished with a minus-three but logged plenty of ice time and had five shots of his own.
Jonah Gadjovich, Petrus Palmu and Lukas Jasek were among the healthy forwards who didn't suit up against the Marlies on Friday night—and Guillaume Brisebois is currently sidelined with what's being called a 'middle-body' ailment. It'll be interesting to see how coach Trent Cull juggles his lineup on Saturday against Belleville.
Once again, the game will be streamed for free on AHL TV. Yesterday's broadcast was a little bumpy—the play-by-play audio was missing for most of the first period and part of the second, and the video also dropped out for a little while. Hopefully things will go a little more smoothly tonight.
Enjoy the games!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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