The Calgary Flames will face off with the mighty Carolina Hurricanes, and they have made their decision on a starting goaltender.
Per Daily Faceoff and Pat Steinberg, Devin Cooley will get the nod when the puck drops between the Flames and Hurricanes. So far, Cooley has struggled alongside most of the Flames. He lost both of his starts so far this season, with an .818 save percentage and a 5.01 GAA.
The Flames, who are 30th in the league with 14 goals scored and 30th with 35 goals allowed, must find a way to give Cooley help on Sunday night vs. a Hurricanes team that looks every bit like a defending Stanley Cup Champion.
Daily Faceoff has also confirmed that Brandon Bussi will start for Carolina, via Ryan Henkel of The Hockey News. Bussi is 2-1-1 this season with an .871 save percentage and a 2.94 GAA.
Calgary Flames Projected Lines And Pairings vs. Carolina
Daily Faceoff and Steinberg have Joel Farabee, Mikael Backlund, and Matt Coronato on the first line. Despite Calgary’s struggles with the puck this season, Farabee and Coronato lead the team with four points through seven games — with Farabee providing four assists and Coronato posting two goals and two assists.
Aydar Suniev, Morgan Frost, and Yegor Sharangovich are the projected second-liners. Suniev has been solid in four games this season, with two goals and three points. Meanwhile, Matvei Gridin, Martin Pospisil, and Ryan Strome appear to be the third liners. Pospisil is one of the league’s most physical players and is always fun to watch.
Brennan Othmann is projected to be on the fourth line, with Jonathan Castagna and Adam Klapka joining him. Per Hockey-Reference, Klapka leads the league with 32 penalty minutes.
Kevin Bahl and Simon Nemec look like the first defensive pairing. Nemec leads all Flames defensemen with three points and is looking to show he was indeed worthy of being the number-two pick by the New Jersey Devils in 2022.
Jacob Middleton and Zach Whitecloud are slated for the second pairing. And, finally, the third pairing looks to be Yan Kuznetsov and Zayne Perekh. NHL.com listed Maxim Tsyplakov and Joel Hanley as scratches. Jonathan Huberdeau and Samuel Honzek are the listed injuries.
Flames Have Their Work Cut Out For Them
It’s never easy to face the defending Western Conference Champions, then turn around and play the defending Stanley Cup Champions. But that’s the situation the Flames find themselves in after losing 6-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 15.
On the plus side, the Calgary Flames have enjoyed two rest days heading into their showdown with the Hurricanes. Carolina, meanwhile, let the Winnipeg Jets give them all they could handle on Saturday before Nikolaj Ehlers broke the tie in the third period.
With the Flames having two full days off and the Hurricanes on a back-to-back and in a different time zone, that could play into Calgary’s hands. If it does, then they must play a full 60 minutes of good hockey. The puck will drop at 8:00 p.m. EST.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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