Calgary Flames
Mikael Backlund is week to week for the Flames with an upper-body injury.
The forward was injured in the first period of a 4-3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.
“He does everything for us,” forward Blake Coleman said prior to a 4-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. “He plays in all situations and he’s the leader of the team. I’ve played alongside him for a long time now, so I’ve got to find some chemistry with some guys here quick. We’re going to miss him out there, but it’s going to be one of those things where you have to fill the hole by committee and guys got to step up in some roles that maybe they haven’t been put in throughout the year.”
Backlund has 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 64 games this season. He averages 1:49 of power-play time per game and 2:23 short-handed and had not missed a game the past four seasons.
“I use [Backlund] in situations against top players all the time, so I haven’t really had to second-guess who’s going out there against a MacKinnon for a defensive-zone faceoff,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “It’s been Mikael. Other than that, I think the work that he’s done is help bring along some other people in regards to the leadership and what we look for out of our players. I do expect our leadership group to be the strongest players for us tonight in his absence and I know everyone else will follow along.”
The Flames (30-24-11) are tied with the Canucks for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. They recalled forward Dryden Hunt from Calgary of the American Hockey League on Friday; he had one shot on goal in 6:20 of ice time against the Avalanche.
“We’ve got not a lot of time left here to start climbing and winning some games,” Coleman said. “It’s on the guys that are in the locker room with that next man up, and we’ll get them.” — Aaron Vickers