It’s still too early to set your fantasy hockey lineup for Sunday.
But it’s worth noting, with Dillon Dube battling a lower-body injury, Andrew Mangiapane is currently taking twirls with the Calgary Flames’ top forward unit.
During Thursday’s practice at the Saddledome, Mangiapane was skating in Dube’s usual slot alongside Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk.
The 24-year-old winger was a regular in the top six last season, so he could certainly handle the promotion.
“I don’t think I really change my game too much,” Mangiapane reasoned. “My game is about being hard on pucks, being tenacious, getting pucks back, retrieving, playing solid defensively, doing all the little things right. Obviously, they’re great players, so they’ll make the game easier for me. Just get into space and they’ll find me. And if they’re open, I’ll get it to them.
“I played with them last year for a good chunk of games. So I think we have some chemistry and if we play together, it will be exciting.”
The Flames are idle until Sunday’s matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs (2 p.m. MT, Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 The Fan), and Dube has not been ruled out for that matinee at the Saddledome. He did, however, miss a second straight practice Thursday.
“He was a little better today, but really no change — he’s still day-to-day,” said Flames head coach Geoff Ward.
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