Calgary Flames Daily: Game day, Oliver Kylington call-up

ST. PAUL, MN - APRIL 9: Oliver Kylington
ST. PAUL, MN - APRIL 9: Oliver Kylington

It’s game day! The Calgary Flames take on the Arizona Coyotes tonight. Oliver Kylington is also waiting for his season debut. More news here.

The Calgary Flames are back in action tonight as they take on the Arizona Coyotes for their third-last game of the season. They finally broke their seven-game losing streak on Saturday night against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Flames and Coyotes met just two weeks ago where the Coyotes won 5-2 with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Max Domi each having two-goal nights. Unlike the Flames, the Yotes have actually been doing well lately and doing well in 2018. They’ve won three of their last four. They won 6-0 against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday and won the other two against two of the top teams.

Spencer Foo will play on that top line alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Sam Bennett. He made his NHL debut on Saturday against the team he grew up cheering for and the team he turned a contract down from to sign with the Flames instead. Another recent call-up who has yet to make his season debut is Oliver Kylington.

Related Story: Flames finally break seven-game losing streak to Oilers

Kylington made his NHL debut in 2016 and has yet to see NHL ice again. He’s playing in his third season with the pros with the Stockton Heat in the AHL, so it’s sometimes hard to forget that he’s still only 20 years old. Defencemen generally take more time to develop anyways, so it’s quite impressive what he’s doing down in Stockton. But he’s still (patiently) waiting for his shot again.

Via Calgary Sun:

“I don’t think much about my age. I don’t want to be evaluated about my age,” said Kylington, who’d logged parts of two seasons in the Swedish Hockey League before being selected by the Flames in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft. “I’ve been around and hopefully they think about my game instead of age. But you get reminded sometimes.”“I think sometimes people will say, ‘Oh, why is Oliver taking so long?’ ” said Ryan Huska, head coach of the Flames’ farm club in Stockton, Calif. “Well, he’s still a kid.”

While Kylington has been called up, as a rule, he’s only allowed to play on an emergency basis if one of the other healthy six defencemen for the Flames either gets sick or injured. With Michael Stone’s wife giving birth yesterday, people were thinking we may see Kylington tonight, but we’ll still have to wait for that.

Some links surrounding the Flames

Practice with Flames an ‘eye-opening’ experience for Hitmen goaltender (Calgary Sun).

Flames Prospect Report: Andersson’s patience about to pay off (Sportsnet).

Flames call-up Oliver Kylington anxious to prove growth on biggest stage (Calgary Sun).

Game Day: Five things to know before the Coyotes play the Flames (Calgary Sun).

Some links surrounding hockey and the NHL

Wild’s Ryan Suter needs surgery, will miss postseason with fractured ankle (FanSided).

Down Goes Brown: 10 types of games you see in NHL’s final week (Sportsnet).

NHL: Maple Leafs beat Sabres 5-2, tie franchise mark for points (The Mainichi).

Henrik and Daniel Sedin say they’ll retire from the NHL after this season (The Star).

Next: Should the Flames trade Dougie Hamilton?

That’s all in today’s Calgary Flames Daily!