Western Canadian teams are getting their lone chance to see how they stack up on their home ice against the NHL’s top team this weekend.On Thursday Adidas James Neal Jersey , it’s the Calgary Flames‘ turn to test the Tampa Bay Lightning. For the Lightning, it’s a chance to face one of the Western Conference’s top squads.The Lightning had an eight-point advantage over four teams including the Flames entering play Wednesday night. Tampa Bay is coming off a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks in a testy affair on Tuesday while the Flames were blanked 2-0 by the Stars in Dallas the same night.Article continues below ...The Lightning dropped the opener of their Western road trip 6-5 in overtime Winnipeg on X and wrap it up Saturday night in Edmonton against the Oilers in a game that will be shown nationally in Canada. They are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games.The player to watch for Tampa Bay in Calgary surprisingly is fourth-line winger Danick Martel, who replaced Ryan Callahan in the lineup in Vancouver after Callahan was scratched following warmups. Martel picked up an assist for his first point in six NHL games, but his second period hit that injured Canucks defenseman Troy Stecher made him a target for the remainder of the night.I think pretty much everyone thought I would have a bad game and just play two, three minutes Adidas Austin Czarnik Jersey , maybe one, two shifts and just feel it around and cover some shifts,” Martel told reports.“But I wanted to make a difference. I don’t have a lot of opportunities at the start of the year, so when I have some, I have to get ready. I said the same thing the first game. I’m playing my role. I played a decent game again today for the warmup I had Adidas Elias Lindholm Jersey , so I’m proud of it.”The Lightning were tight-lipped on Callahan’s injury other than to say it was in the upper body area and that he wasn’t sure when exactly it occurred.“We hope (it’s minor),” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.Calgary’s vaunted offence will give the Lightning a test as well. Tampa gave up 40 shots in Winnipeg and 38 in Vancouver. Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will be trying to stop a Flames offence that has four players with 17-plus goals each – Sean Monahan (20), Elias Lindholm (17) and Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk 15 each after 35 games of the regular season.The Flames went 2-1 on their road trip but were left to bemoan an off night in Dallas that they know they can’t repeat on Thursday.“It’s a good test,” Flames captain Mark Giordano said.“We haven’t seen them yet but we know what they’ve been doing – pretty much winning every game. They are up top by five or six points. They’re a team that is one of the best if not the best in the league right now so it’s a real test. We’ve got to clean some stuff up.”David Rittich is expected to get the start in goal for Calgary. He drew praise for his efforts in Dallas. DETROIT (AP) — Andreas Athanasiou has become a more consistent player this season, and the score sheet is starting to reflect it.Athanasiou tied it midway through the third period and scored 49 seconds into overtime to lift the Detroit Red Wings over the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Wednesday night.The 24-year-old Athanasiou leads Detroit with nine goals Adidas Tyler Graovac Jersey , including five with three assists in his past six games.“Early in the season he wasn’t getting points, but he probably deserved more,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “I think from Day 1, he’s been very engaged. I thought his first practice in training camp was excellent. I think he’s carried that forward.”It was the Red Wings’ fifth comeback win in their last seven games.“I think our starts aren’t very good and we know that. It’s something we need to work on,” said Tyler Bertuzzi Adidas Noah Hanifin Jersey , who also scored. “But it shows what we have in this room to bounce back from being down and come back in games like this.”Jimmy Howard stopped 34 shots for Detroit, which has won nine of 11 and is over .500 (10-9-2) for the first time this season.Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Chris Wagner scored for Boston, which lost for only the third time to the Red Wings in the last 18 meetings (15-1-2). Tuukka Rask made 24 saves.“We had a lot of opportunities, but we didn’t take advantage of them,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “There were too many times where we tried to make a pretty play or a fancy play instead of making the simple play and putting the puck on net.”Athanasiou got control of a loose puck in the slot during overtime Adidas Alan Quine Jersey , spun around and beat Rask.“It was kind of just a scrum and the puck was just bouncing and I just turned and shot it,” Athanasiou said. “I don’t know where it went, but (I’m) happy it went in.”Athanasiou tied it 8:59 into the third when he put in the rebound of Gustav Nyquist’s shot from the left circle off the rush.Wagner made it 2-1 6:45 into the third when he tipped Sean Kuraly’s shot. It was Wagner’s second goal.Forsbacka Karlsson gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead 4:08 into the second period when he put in a loose puck from a goal-mouth scramble. It was Forsbacka Karlsson’s second goal.Bertuzzi tied it at 1 9:48 into the middle period when he tipped defenseman Nik Jensen’s shot between Rask’s pads. It was Bertuzzi’s sixth goal.NOTE: Boston D Kevan Miller returned after missing 13 games with a hand injury. … The Bruins were without several key players due to injuries including star C Patrice Bergeron (rib/sternoclavicular), D Zdeno Chara (lower body) and D Charlie McAvoy (concussion). … LW Thomas Vanek returned for Detroit after missing eight games with a knee injury. … The Red Wings recalled C Christoffer Ehn from AHL Grand Rapids.UP NEXT:Boston: Hosts Pittsburgh on Friday night.Detroit: Visits Washington on Friday.
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for the first time this season.Jakob
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