CALGARY -- Anaheim Ducks forward Tomas Fleischmann will be in the lineup for Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round series against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports).
Fleischmann skated on a line with Rickard Rakell and Andrew Cogliano at the morning skate, and Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau confirmed he'll play.
"He's a veteran of many playoff [games]," Boudreau said. "He played really well for us in the Winnipeg series, I thought. He's a skilled player but he's played in tough situations before, so I think he'll bring a little bit of that whole thing to our game tonight. He can play center too. It's always nice to have five potential centermen in the lineup in case somebody goes down, because it's such an important position."
Fleischmann has played two games in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs; he had an assist in Game 4 of Anaheim's first-round sweep of the Winnipeg Jets but hasn't played since.
"It took two weeks but that's my job right now here, and I'm excited I'm in the lineup tonight," Fleischmann said. "I'm happy to be here. You've got to show the coach you want to stay in the lineup -- that's what it is. Hopefully I do that tonight and we've got to play hard -- all four lines, not just the one."
Fleischmann knows the importance of Game 4.
A win against the Flames would allow the Ducks to return to Anaheim with a 3-1 series lead. Including the regular season and playoffs, the Ducks have won 21 consecutive games at Honda Center against the Flames dating to Game 3 of their first-round playoff series in 2006.
"It's going to be important to get this game," Fleischmann said. "We gave them a little bit of life and we've got to take it back, so that's our mission for tonight. We gave them a little bit of life, we've got to get back on track and start winning the games again."
Anaheim acquired Fleischmann on Feb. 28 in a trade with the Florida Panthers for left wing Dany Heatley and the Ducks' third-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. Fleischmann played under Boudreau with the Washington Capitals from 2007-11.
"It's been a long time ago since I played for him, but I've been here for 20 games and seeing everything that goes on here, it's a pretty deep team and decisions are hard to be made," Fleischmann said. "It's a good lineup and to get in you've got to make sure you stay in."
Here are the projected lineups:
AT THE RINK: FLAMES
DUCKS
Patrick Maroon - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Matt Beleskey - Ryan Kesler - Jakob Silfverberg
Tomas Fleischmann - Rickard Rakell - Andrew Cogliano
Kyle Palmieri - Nate Thompson - Tim Jackman
Hampus Lindholm - Francois Beauchemin
Scratched: James Wisniewski, Korbinian Holzer, Jiri Sekac, Jason LaBarbera, Emerson Etem
Injured: None
FLAMES
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Jiri Hudler
Sam Bennett - Mikael Backlund - Joe Colborne
Lance Bouma - Matt Stajan - David Jones
Brandon Bollig - Josh Jooris - Mason Raymond
Scratched: Drew Shore, Corey Potter, Markus Granlund, David Wolf, Tyler Wotherspoon
Injured: Ladislav Smid (upper body), Mark Giordano (bicep), Paul Byron (lower body), Micheal Ferland (undisclosed)
Status update: After missing the first three games of the series with the flu, Gibson will back up Andersen. … Etem is expected to be scratched in place of Fleischmann.
Who's hot: Perry has four goals and 10 points as part of a five-game point streak. … Beleskey has goals in three straight games to start the series. … Getzlaf has seven assists and eight points in the series.