Calgary Flames Daily: Game-day, Andersson in, Bartkowski out

It’s game day! The Calgary Flames continue their home stance against the Detroit Red Wings tonight. And we’ll finally see Rasmus Andersson in the lineup.

All of our prayers have been answered. As the Calgary Flames continue their home-stance tonight against the Detroit Red Wings, we’ll see yet another lineup change at the blue line. After Travis Hamonic suffered a slight injury last week, Michael Stone moved up to play on that second pairing with T.J. Brodie. So the Flames recalled Rasmus Andersson from Stockton.

Yet his main role has been sitting in the press box. And many fans on Twitter weren’t happy about him sitting there while a player like Matt Bartkowski was continuously in the lineup and was basically under-performing game after game.

Andersson will be playing in his second NHL game and his first of the season. He’ll be on a pairing with Brett Kulak, who has been spending his time on that third pairing with Bartkowski. Kulak and Andersson have spent time playing together with Stockton.

Calgary Flames

Via Calgary Flames:

“I think it’s more on the line,” Andersson said following the team’s morning skate – after getting over the initial shock of a bunch of reporters suddenly surrounding him. “So this feels like it’s more of my really first game. Obviously it’s on home ice too, so I’m really excited about that.”“It’s a lot of confidence with the puck, make plays, and play hard in my d-zone and yeah, just be confident out there, and play simple when I have to and make plays when I have to.”“Yeah, I think it’s cool,” Kulak said. “I remember even in training camp, we finished the season strong down in Stockton last year together, in training camp we talked about how cool it would be if we could play together this year at some point with this team, and now it’s happening tonight.“I know what kind of player he is, and he knows what kind of player I am. And we can kinda work to each other’s strengths like that. I know when I give him the puck he’s always good about getting into a spot where he can get it and then he’s very good at making plays, he’s a very poised defenceman, so yeah, I’m looking forward to playing with him again.”

Glen Gulutzan has also confirmed that Mike Smith will get the start in net tonight. He wasn’t what he’s been these past few weeks against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday evening. He allowed five goals on just 21 shots. Let’s hope he can get back into his beast-mode he’s been having for the majority of the season.

Flames Tweet of the day

Hockey Tweet of the day

Some links surrounding the Flames

Detroit Red Wings vs. Calgary Flames: NHL Odds, Prediction (Sports Interaction).

Game Day: Red Wings at Flames (Calgary Sun).

Flames star Gaudreau shooting to be more than just assists ace (Calgary Sun).

Some links surrounding hockey and the NHL

Top 50 sports franchises in the world (FanSided).

3 things we learned in the NHL: Leafs can survive without Matthews (Sportsnet).

Evaluating the sustainability of hockey’s white-hot shooters (TSN).

Next: Top five Flames players through first 15 games

That’s all in today’s Flames Daily! Catch the game tonight on Sportsnet Flames at 7pm MT.