The Calgary Flames had a road trip they&#8217;d rather forget last week, dropping all four games of an eastern road swing. They&#8217;re undoubtedly hoping to change their fortunes this week as they embark upon a stretch of seven of their next nine games on home ice.
And on Monday, back on home ice, their practice session featured a guest coaching appearance from Guy Gaudreau, the patriarch of the Gaudreau family, and new forward lines.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Welcome back Guy ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/qNY2QpndCE">pic.twitter.com/qNY2QpndCE</a>
&mdash; Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHLFlames/status/1863639960613699694?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Gaudreau is best known to Flames fans as the father of late Flames star Johnny Gaudreau, who spent 11 years in the organization before departing as a free agent in the 2022 off-season for a new opportunity with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, tragically passed away in late August and Tuesday night&#8217;s home game against Columbus will feature a tribute to the brothers.
With several members of the Gaudreau family in town in advance of Tuesday&#8217;s game, head coach Ryan Huska invited Guy to participate in practice as a guest coach. (He&#8217;s also joined the Philadelphia Flyers and Blue Jackets in the same capacity this season after invitations from their coaching staffs.)
Meanwhile, Huska was also shuffling around his forward lines in advance of Tuesday&#8217;s rematch with Columbus following a 5-2 loss to the Blue Jackets on Friday afternoon. <a href="https://x.com/Fan960Steinberg/status/1863638550186483845">Here are Monday&#8217;s line combinations, via Sportsnet&#8217;s Pat Steinberg</a>:
<ul>
<li>Yegor Sharangovich, Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato remained together, as they have for a little while.</li>
<li>Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and Martin Pospisil, who combined for two goals in the third period against Pittsburgh on Saturday, were also kept together.</li>
<li>Call-up Walker Duehr was placed with Connor Zary and Blake Coleman.</li>
<li>Call-up Jakob Pelletier was placed with Kevin Rooney and Ryan Lomberg.</li>
<li>Andrei Kuzmenko was listed as the 13th forward.</li>
</ul>
The Backlund line remaining together makes sense, as that trio has been working well. In a short timespan on Saturday, the new-look Kadri trio generated a couple goals, so it makes sense to keep them together, too. With Justin Kirkland headed to the injury reserve, putting Pelletier on the fourth line with Rooney and Lomberg makes some sense, as he can bring some speed and tenacity to that trio – he&#8217;s a nice compliment to Lomberg in that way. And that leaves Duehr to slot in on Zary&#8217;s line, with the likely aim of using Duehr&#8217;s speed and size to create room for Zary and Coleman to generate some high-quality shots.
The Flames have struggled to score this season. If Monday&#8217;s lines carry over to Tuesday&#8217;s game, then Kuzmenko would be a scratch for the first time this season, a likely reset for a player that has a ton of skill but just hasn&#8217;t been able to put it together with the Flames this season. If the Flames want to score more goals, they&#8217;ll need Kuzmenko looking like the player he was last season after arriving via trade with the Vancouver Canucks.
The Flames are back in action on Tuesday night when they host the Blue Jackets.
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The Calgary Flames had a road trip they'd rather forget last week, dropping all four games of an eastern road swing. They're undoubtedly hoping to change their fortunes this week as they embark upon a stretch of seven of their next nine games on home ice.

And on Monday, back on home ice, their practice session featured a guest coaching appearance from Guy Gaudreau, the patriarch of the Gaudreau family, and new forward lines.

https://twitter.com/NHLFlames/status/1863639960613699694

Gaudreau is best known to Flames fans as the father of late Flames star Johnny Gaudreau, who spent 11 years in the organization before departing as a free agent in the 2022 off-season for a new opportunity with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, tragically passed away in late August and Tuesday night's home game against Columbus will feature a tribute to the brothers.

With several members of the Gaudreau family in town in advance of Tuesday's game, head coach Ryan Huska invited Guy to participate in practice as a guest coach. (He's also joined the Philadelphia Flyers and Blue Jackets in the same capacity this season after invitations from their coaching staffs.)

Meanwhile, Huska was also shuffling around his forward lines in advance of Tuesday's rematch with Columbus following a 5-2 loss to the Blue Jackets on Friday afternoon. <a href="https://x.com/Fan960Steinberg/status/1863638550186483845">Here are Monday's line combinations, via Sportsnet's Pat Steinberg</a>:
<ul>
 	<li>Yegor Sharangovich, Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato remained together, as they have for a little while.</li>
 	<li>Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and Martin Pospisil, who combined for two goals in the third period against Pittsburgh on Saturday, were also kept together.</li>
 	<li>Call-up Walker Duehr was placed with Connor Zary and Blake Coleman.</li>
 	<li>Call-up Jakob Pelletier was placed with Kevin Rooney and Ryan Lomberg.</li>
 	<li>Andrei Kuzmenko was listed as the 13th forward.</li>
</ul>
The Backlund line remaining together makes sense, as that trio has been working well. In a short timespan on Saturday, the new-look Kadri trio generated a couple goals, so it makes sense to keep them together, too. With Justin Kirkland headed to the injury reserve, putting Pelletier on the fourth line with Rooney and Lomberg makes some sense, as he can bring some speed and tenacity to that trio – he's a nice compliment to Lomberg in that way. And that leaves Duehr to slot in on Zary's line, with the likely aim of using Duehr's speed and size to create room for Zary and Coleman to generate some high-quality shots.

The Flames have struggled to score this season. If Monday's lines carry over to Tuesday's game, then Kuzmenko would be a scratch for the first time this season, a likely reset for a player that has a ton of skill but just hasn't been able to put it together with the Flames this season. If the Flames want to score more goals, they'll need Kuzmenko looking like the player he was last season after arriving via trade with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Flames are back in action on Tuesday night when they host the Blue Jackets.
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<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-134782" src="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/11/FN-Article.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" />

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Flames practice on Monday featured Guy Gaudreau and new forward lines

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