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Here's where the Flames are expected to play recalled Matthew Phillips tonight

Offside Staff
Offside Staff
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Dec 9 2022, 4:47 pm
Here's where the Flames are expected to play recalled Matthew Phillips tonight

Matthew Phillips will be making his season debut for the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

Phillips, who was recalled off the American Hockey League circuit to join the Flames on an upcoming three-game road trip on Wednesday, will log his second-ever NHL game when he suits up against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

The perhaps unexpected recall will place Phillips, who leads the entire AHL with 15 goals and 30 points in 20 games, on a line alongside centre Trevor Lewis and fellow winger Milan Lucic on Calgary’s fourth group, according to multiple reports out of Columbus.

Lucic has not scored in 26 games played this season, and Lewis has seven points (four goals, three assists) in 26 outings.

Frequently scratched fourth-line centre Kevin Rooney, who was placed on waivers Wednesday, will remain out of the lineup, as will right-winger Brett Ritchie. That’ll leave the combination of Mikael Backlund, Adam Ruzicka, and Blake Coleman as the configuration on the third line.

The top two lines — Elias Lindholm between Jonathan Huberdeau and Tyler Toffoli as one group, and Nazem Kadri centring Dillon Dube and Andrew Mangiapane — will also remain the same.

So too will the defensive pairs — fronted by Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar with Chris Tanev — remain intact.

Jacob Markstrom, whose struggles have been well documented, is expected to return to the crease after watching Dan Vladar start four straight. Markstrom has a 2.97 goals-against average and .889 save percentage in 17 starts.

Here’s how Phillips and the Flames will line up against Johnny Gaudreau and the Blue Jackets on Thursday:

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau — Elias Lindholm — Tyler Toffoli
Dillon Dube — Nazem Kadri — Andrew Mangiapane
Adam Ruzicka — Mikael Backlund — Blake Coleman
Milan Lucic — Trevor Lewis — Matthew Phillips

Defencemen

Noah Hanifin — Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar — Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov — Michael Stone

Goaltenders

Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar

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