After some scares yesterday with Mikael Backlund and Sean Monahan, it seems like the only other injury for the Calgary Flames is Matthew Tkachuk.
After Sunday’s game, I remember getting notifications from my Yahoo Sports in my pools saying that Matthew Tkachuk has switched from healthy to day-to-day and I’m like “Um, excuse me? When did this happen?” The Calgary Flames sophomore will be missing a game due to injury for the first time since the start of his NHL career.
Yesterday there were some more scares during practice. Sean Monahan was out, Mikael Backlund was out, and so was Tkachuk. All the lines were completely different consequently. Having that on top of Kris Versteeg still being out and everyone on Twitter had a mild freakout.
But today, it’s confirmed it’s just Tkachuk who is out, but I’m using “just” quite lightly since he’s still a very important factor missing, especially on the powerplay.
Via Calgary Flames:
"“Obviously when you lose a guy like that, it hurts. Especially at this time of year,” Gulutzan said. “Those holes create opportunities for other guys to come. We’ve got lots of guys chomping at the bit to come in.”"
Sam Bennett will replace Tkachuk on that 3M line for tonight’s Battle of Alberta matchup. Mark Jankowski will also be a healthy scratch tonight with Nick Shore replacing him at that third line where Chris Stewart will also make his way back in the lineup on Shore’s wing. The first and fourth lines still look the same.
"“Even before I got here, (Backlund and Bennett) had played together,” Gulutzan noted. “Just when we were putting lines together and Sam was playing center a year and a half ago … Chucky just had such a good fit with Backs and Fro that we kept that line going. If Sam wasn’t playing center at that time, he probably could have easily moved into that spot too.“He’s going to bump up there tonight. When I talked to Backs and Fro, they thought it was a good fit.”"
Some good news for Flames fans: Kris Versteeg is having full practices with the team now. Many people were thinking he may draw back into the lineup tonight but he’s still out. However, he’s extremely close to returning and many people are anticipating he’ll be back by Friday night.
Next: Mike Smith returns, Gillies sent down
Let’s just hope it’s not too late.