Flames demote Kuzmenko in lineup one night after benching

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Calgary Flames forward Andrei Kuzmenko appears to be in Ryan Huska’s doghouse right now.

Vibes were high in Calgary last night after the Flames were able to snap a four-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over Jacob Markstrom and the New Jersey Devils. Several individuals had great performances in this one, including Dan Vladar, who had his first shutout of the season. One who wasn’t so great, however, was Kuzmenko.

The 28-year-old was stapled to the bench for approximately the final 27 minutes of last night’s game. He had just 10:25 minutes in ice time, whereas his line mates entering the outing, Jonathan Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich, played 19:04 and 19:35, respectively.

“He wasn’t moving his feet all that much tonight, and I thought [Anthony] Mantha was doing a better job of that for us,” Huska told reporters after last night’s game.

Sure enough, Mantha, who was on the fourth line to begin last night’s game, was spotted skating in Kuzmenko’s spot with Huberdeau and Sharangovich at practice today. Kuzmenko, meanwhile, was spotted on the fourth line with Kevin Rooney and Ryan Lomberg.

The rest of the forward combinations remained the same, indicating that Justin Kirkland will be a healthy scratch for a second-straight game tomorrow night versus the Edmonton Oilers.

On the back end, it appears that Tyson Barrie will remain in the lineup for a third-straight outing and get to face his former Oilers teammates. The 33-year-old struggled to get into the lineup early in the season, but seems to be finding his footing as of late.

“Tonight, to me, was his best game that he’s played for us,” Huska said of Barrie last night. “Both on the power play, when he was on one of our units there, and his overall game. A lot of times if you’re not in regularly it’s hard to get up to speed quickly, but I thought he was OK for us in Utah. OK is the word I’ll use. But, I thought tonight he was a good defenceman for us.”

The one other thing to keep an eye on is between the pipes. Huska has been alternating goalies every game this season, but admitted last night that may change following Vladar’s shutout. It sounds as though Vladar will be given a second-straight start tomorrow night versus the Oilers.

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