At the Rink: Flyers at Flames

CALGARY -- The yo-yo season of Calgary Flames forward Markus Granlund continues.

Granlund was recalled from the Adirondack Flames of the American Hockey League on Wednesday and is expected to skate in his 38th NHL game this season when Calgary plays the Philadelphia Flyers at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.

"It's great to be back here," said Granlund, who has five goals and eight assists this season. "It's my goal to be here. I'm here and I have to do my best. It's a big, big chance for me. It's a big game and I have an opportunity to play a big game."

Being called up to the NHL is becoming old hat for Granlund. His recall Wednesday was the fifth time this season the 21-year-old native of Oulu, Finland, has been recalled by the Flames.

Granlund's first stint yielded a 29-game audition. His other three recalls have netted a total of eight games.

Flames coach Bob Hartley said he isn't worried about the effects of jumping back and forth between the NHL and AHL with Granlund.

"We've had talks," Hartley said. "The last time he was in I had a good talk with him and that's the nature of being that player, going up, going down. You get up and you're excited, you go down and say, 'Why?' Those long flights and everything, you have plenty of time think; sometimes too much time to think. He's a good, young pro. What I like about [Granlund] is that he's played in the Finnish elite league at a young age with adults, with pros. That's always a big advantage. You look at him and he's kind of the same personality as [Sean Monahan]. I have lots of trust in him and we're going to see him tonight."

Granlund said the up-and-down season has worn on him a little.

"Sometimes it's tough and you have to be ready," said Granlund, who also has nine goals and 17 points in 21 AHL games. "It's almost the same thing every time. I need to work hard and be ready."

Having seen so much of Granlund already, Hartley said he knows exactly what to expect of him.

"You can always count on [Granlund]," Hartley said. "[Granlund's] game is always a consistent one. Very strong defensively, can generate good offense, he has great vision and he's good with the puck. [Granlund] gave us some great games so I have no doubt that [Granlund] is going to play some good minutes for us."

Calgary will need them. The Flames find themselves on the outside looking in at the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With 81 points Calgary trails the Winnipeg Jets by one point for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Flames also are one point behind the Los Angeles Kings for third place in the Pacific Division.

"That's the situation," Hartley said. "Our challenge is that we have to have the ability to recognize the situation. We're in a business; we're business people. I don't want to deal with a stockbroker that will not look at the stock market every day. He's not going to do business with me, that's for sure.

"That's our situation. We've put ourselves in a great situation and let's enjoy it. If this is the best League in the world, let's transfer the pressure into a positive challenge. Let's have fun with it. We're a young team; let's go and play."

Philadelphia's situation is a little grimmer.

With a 3-5-4 record in their past 12 games, the Flyers have fallen 10 points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 10 games remaining.

"We know what's at stake," said Flyers defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who will return to the lineup after missing six games because of an upper-body injury. "We know how far we are back and the hole we've dug ourselves. We still believe. Every game matters to us. We have a lot of pride in this room and there needs to be a lot of desperation and do our best to win tonight."

Here are the projected lineups:

FLYERS

Michael Raffl - Claude Giroux - Jakub Voracek

Brayden Schenn - Sean Couturier - Wayne Simmonds

Zac Rinaldo - Nick Cousins - Ryan White

Chris VandeVelde - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

Nicklas Grossmann - Nick Schultz

Mark Streit - Andrew MacDonald

Carlo Colaiacovo - Luke Schenn

Michael Del Zotto

Steve Mason

Ray Emery

Scratched: Vincent Lecavalier, Matt Read

Injured: R.J. Umberger (abdominal surgery), Radko Gudas (knee)

FLAMES

Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Jiri Hudler

Lance Bouma - Mikael Backlund - David Jones

Mason Raymond - Markus Granlund - Joe Colborne

Brandon Bollig - Matt Stajan - Michael Ferland

Kris Russell - Dennis Wideman

TJ Brodie - Deryk Engelland

David Schlemko - Raphael Diaz

Karri Ramo

Jonas Hiller

Scratched: Corey Potter, Emile Poirier

Injured: Ladislav Smid (upper body), Paul Byron (lower body), Mark Giordano (torn biceps tendon), Drew Shore (undisclosed), Josh Jooris (undisclosed)

Status report: Read is with wife Erin in Minnesota for the birth of their daughter, Roen Brittan, on Tuesday. … Lecavalier, who hasn't scored since Jan. 3, a span of 26 games, is expected to be a healthy scratch against Calgary. … With Del Zotto's return the Flyers will go with seven defensemen, with Lecavalier out. On Thursday morning Philadelphia returned defenseman Brandon Manning to Lehigh Valley of the AHL. … Jooris and Shore are nursing minor injuries, according to Hartley. ... Defenseman Douglas Murray remains with the Flames on a try-out basis.

Who’s hot: Simmonds has four points in his past three games. … Backlund had a career-high eight-game point-scoring streak ended in a 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.