Flames-Hurricanes lookahead: Jaromir Jagr on the top line

Jaromir Jagr recorded an assist on Johnny Gaudreau’s goal as the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2.

After a four-day break early in the season, the Calgary Flames look to use all that practice time to their advantage as they return home for a pair of games. After Saturday’s win in Vancouver, the Flames will look to make it back-to-back wins Thursday night when they play host to the Carolina Hurricanes (7 pm, Sportsnet Flames and Sportsnet 960).

Calgary Flames 4-2-0, 3rd Pacific Division

  • Johnny Gaudreau-Sean Monahan-Jaromir Jagr
  • Matthew Tkachuk-Mikael Backlund-Michael Frolik
  • Kris Versteeg-Sam Bennett-Micheal Ferland
  • Tanner Glass-Matt Stajan-Troy Brouwer

  • Mark Giordano-Dougie Hamilton
  • TJ Brodie-Travis Hamonic
  • Matt Bartkowski-Michael Stone

  • For the first time in his Flames tenure, Jagr will start a game on the team’s top line with Monahan and Gaudreau. Jagr spent about 3:30 playing with Calgary’s top forward unit at even strength in Saturday’s 5-2 win in Vancouver and should see more tonight. Saturday also saw Jagr spend 4:22 on the power play, his most this season, and he recorded his first point since joining the Flames when he assisted on Gaudreau’s second period goal. Head coach Glen Gulutzan plans to give his top line a lot of offensive starts and says Jagr should be in and around the 15 minute mark when it comes to ice time.

  • The four-day break in the team’s schedule ended up working out well for Ferland, as he’ll return to the lineup after missing the Vancouver game with a lower-body injury. Ferland’s return will push Curtis Lazar out of the mix as Ferland will slot on to Calgary’s third line with Versteeg and Bennett. Gulutzan dropped Ferland off the team’s top line last week and said he needs to start playing a more “direct game” again. Using Ferland a little lower on the depth chart is an attempt to get him playing like that again.

  • While there was some conversation about it, Mike Smith will get his seventh straight start in net for the Flames. In an impressive 4-2-0 start to his Calgary tenure, Smith has been a top 10 goalie statistically; his .929 save percentage is ninth in the league, while his .837 percentage in high danger situations puts him 10th. More than anything else, Smith has been far and away better than what the Flames had in net to start last season.

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    Carolina Hurricanes 2-1-1, T-6th Metropolitan Division

  • Teuvo Teravainen-Jordan Staal-Justin Williams
  • Sebastian Aho-Victor Rask-Elias Lindholm
  • Jeff Skinner-Derek Ryan-Brock McGinn
  • Joakim Nordstrom-Marcus Kruger-Janne Kuokkanen

  • Jaccob Slavin-Brett Pesce
  • Noah Hanifin-Justin Faulk
  • Haydn Fleury-Trevor van Riemsdyk

  • The Hurricanes snapped a two-game skid Tuesday in Edmonton when they took a 5-3 win at Rogers Place. Carolina was outshot 51-21, but was bailed out frequently by Cam Ward’s 48-save performance. Scott Darling will get back in tonight, though, as he makes his fourth start and is looking to improve on his 1-1-1 record and .893 save percentage.

  • The top line for the Hurricanes made up of Teravainen, Staal, and Williams has been a good one to start the season. Teravainen’s shot rate is up over 68 per cent to start the season despite starting just 48.6 per cent of his shifts in the offensive zone — he picked up his first two goals of the season against the Oilers. Carolina’s top trio has 10 points combined through their first four games.

  • This trip through Alberta has been a homecoming of sorts for Fleury. The rookie defenceman and 2014 first-round pick (seventh overall) starred for four seasons with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels and made the NHL team out of camp after spending all of last season with Charlotte of the American League. Fleury has been used like a third-pairing defenceman, averaging 13:22 per game, but he’s been a nice story to start the season for Carolina.

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