Game Day Notebook - 18.10.25

LAS VEGAS — For the second time this week, the Flames face the Golden Knights, but this time, the scene shifts to Sin City.

Get ready for tonight's contest with our Game Day Notebook!

Status Quo

The Flames are projected to run with the same lines and pairings this evening that took the ice for practice Friday at T-Mobile Arena, with Jonathan Huberdeau making his return to the lineup on a unit with Nazem Kadri and Joel Farabee.

VIEW TONIGHT'S PROJECTED LINEUP HERE

After Devin Cooley got the go in goal Wednesday in Utah, Dustin Wolf is expected to start between the pipes this evening.

He made 26 saves Tuesday against the Golden Knights at the Scotiabank Saddledome, and Wolf comes into tonight's fixture with a 2-1-2 record in his career versus Vegas.

Shots, Shots, Shots

The message is simple.

Get pucks and bodies to the net, and good things are bound to happen.

Calgary enters this evening's contest having outshot their opponent only once in their five previous games this season, and while it might seem trite, Blake Coleman figures that more shot volume from he and his peers will bring about more red lights behind opposing nets.

"It's kind of cliche and simple, but you’ve got to generate some ugly ones, have guys start feeling good about producing some goals and then, you know, plays will open up from there," he said Saturday morning. "Guys (have) just got to go play their game.

"There's a lot of good players in this room with a lot of finishing ability and, you know, it's just a matter of time before pucks start to go."

And for Coleman, who will again line up alongside Mikael Backlund and Sam Honzek Saturday, one way to create more opportunities to shoot the puck is to apply consistent pressure on the fore-check.

"Just get pucks behind their D, make them turn, get them into the glass when you can, and just keep our game simple, really" he said. "It's a fun building to play in. It's a great atmosphere.

"Just simplify the game, dumb it down a little and make them work a little harder."

Bean Around The World

Jake Bean will draw back into the Flames lineup tonight on a pairing with rookie Zayne Parekh, and head coach Ryan Huska mentioned Friday that position on Parekh's opposite point is an opportunity waiting to be seized.

Parekh played alongside Brayden Pachal Wednesday in Utah and tonight, Bean figures his two-way game will help complement the pairing.

"I break out with the puck well and play against kind of anyone in any situation," he said. "I feel like I've showed that in camp, showed that in the games I played this year and I’ll continue to do that tonight."

Huska, too, alluded to Bean's simple, two-way game as a potential recipe for success.

"When you're paired with a younger defenceman that's learning his way, you want someone on his side that is responsible, and can help guide or lead or however you want to put it, we're not looking for anything magical," he said. "We want Jake to play his game, but we want to see a responsible game with that."

Parekh, meanwhile, worked Saturday morning on a powerplay unit with Rasmus Andersson, Joel Farabee, Yegor Sharangovich and Connor Zary; remember, it was Andersson's powerplay marker that paced the Flames to a 1-0 lead Wednesday in Utah.

But at even strength, simple is sometimes better and tonight, it's Bean's turn to help steer the Parekh pairing against a Vegas team that sits tied for the league lead in goals for.

"I feel like they're a different team in their own building," Bean said of the Golden Knights. "So we need to kind of be sharp and not be toe-in tonight.

"If we come out going downhill and play our game, we'll be all right."