Flames' Brodie to play vs. Blue Jackets
Calgary ice time leader feeling OK after getting hurt Wednesday
By
Aaron Vickers
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
Brodie left a 4-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday with 5:36 remaining in the second period because of a lower-body injury sustained after blocking a shot by Justin Faulk. Brodie did not practice Thursday.
"TJ told me he is fine to go and I checked with the medical staff," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "TJ is in. … We always breathe signs of relief for all of our players. The sad part of this business is sometimes there are some injuries and TJ Brodie is a tough customer. We ran some tests yesterday and everything is fine so he is good to go."
Brodie leads the Flames in average ice time per game at 25:08 and is fifth in scoring with 25 points in 40 games.
"It feels pretty good," Brodie said. "The main concern is being able to skate and move around out there and have that jump.
"You want to play every game. No one likes to sit out whether you're healthy or hurt. You just have to find a way to play, contribute and be a positive force out there."
Brodie, 25, set NHL career highs in goals (11), assists (30) and points (41) last year.
He missed the first nine games of the regular season after sustaining a broken bone in his right hand blocking a shot during a preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Flames started 2-7-0 without Brodie and are 20-17-3 since his return.
"A player like that is a guy you can't replace in our lineup," Flames captain Mark Giordano said. "When you play without guys like that it's by committee. But we need him in the lineup. He's going to go through some bumps and bruises. But hopefully once the adrenaline, the game gets going and everything settles down, he'll be fine."
Calgary will be without defenseman Dennis Wideman for a second straight game. Wideman was suspended by the NHL for 20 games Wednesday for conduct violative of Rule 40 (Physical Abuse of Officials). The National Hockey League Players' Association said in a statement Wednesday that it planned to file an appeal of the suspension.
Wideman's absence is leaves the Flames short on defense but Brodie compared it to last season when Giordano missed the final two months of the season because of an arm injury.
"Essentially it's the same guys from last year," Brodie said. "We went through it last year with [Giordano] and everyone on the team knows that when a guy goes down, or in Wideman's case he's suspended, that you have to step up and that's what needs to be done to be successful."
The Blue Jackets did not hold a morning skate. They beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 in a shootout Thursday.
Here are the projected lineups:
BLUE JACKETS
Brandon Saad - Alex Wennberg - Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson
Scott Hartnell - William Karlsson - Matt Calvert
Kerby Rychel - Gregory Campbell - Rene Bourque
Ryan Murray - Seth Jones
Fedor Tyutin - Dalton Prout
Cody Goloubef - Jack Johnson
Joonas Korpisalo
Anton Forsberg
Injured: David Clarkson (upper body), Curtis McElhinney (ankle), David Savard (oblique), Sergei Bobrovsky (lower body)
Scratched: Jared Boll, Justin Falk
FLAMES
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Jiri Hudler
Sam Bennett - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Micheal Ferland - Matt Stajan - David Jones
Lance Bouma - Markus Granlund - Joe Colborne
Mark Giordano - TJ Brodie
Kris Russell - Dougie Hamilton
Ladislav Smid - Deryk Engelland
Karri Ramo
Jonas Hiller
Injured: None
Scratched: Brandon Bollig, Josh Jooris, Jakub Nakladal
Suspended: Dennis Wideman
Status report: Korpisalo, who has started six straight games, could start again for the Blue Jackets. He made 37 saves through overtime, then stopped all three shooters in the shootout Thursday. …The Flames held an optional morning skate.
Who's hot: Atkinson has four goals and two assists in his past four games. … Giordano has two goals and one assist in his past two games.
