FLAMES’ GAME DAY

Five storylines to watch as the Calgary Flames look to build on their 1-0 victory over Edmonton when they host the San Jose Sharks in a critical Pacific Division game tonight at 7 p.m. at the Scotiabank Saddledome. (TV: Sportsnet West, Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan).

1.

STILL NO TKACHUK

For a fourth straight day, there was still no sign of Matthew Tkachuk at the Saddledome. The Flames did have Wednesday off as a recovery day but, when the team skated on Thursday, their rabble-rousing winger was absent. Not good. The 20-yearold was injured in the third period of Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders after Mathew Barzal slid into his feet, causing Tkachuk to hit his head. Officially, he is out with an upper body injury but common sense would dictate Tkachuk is dealing with a suspected concussion. Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan gave no timeline for his return, either. “He’s still day-to-day,” he said.

2.

LINES IN A BLENDER

With a few missing bodies at Thursday’s skate, Gulutzan’s lineup was impossible to predict. Sean Monahan took a maintenance day which meant Mark Jankowski drew into his spot on the top line with Johnny Gaudreau and Micheal Ferland. Kris Versteeg, re-activated from injured reserve Wednesday, was skating with Garnet Hathaway and Nick Shore. That left Curtis Lazar and Matt Stajan to skate on a line with Chris Stewart. Troy Brouwer was also rotating through.

3.

VERSTEEG IN?

It’s still no guarantee Versteeg will draw into Friday’s lineup. The 31-yearold right-winger is eligible to play following hip surgery, but the head coach wouldn’t say whether he was going to play Versteeg. “It’s not safe to say he’s in or not. He’s pretty much ready to go but we have four guys that are healthy that haven’t played for a while,” Gulutzan said. “And we have to check the status of our other guys that didn’t play on Tuesday night.” Versteeg has missed 49 games following hip surgery and has been skating with the team since Monday.

4.

DONSKOI HURT?

In Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Oilers, Joonas Donskoi appeared to leave the game with a shoulder injury late in the third period after being driven into the boards by Oilers defenceman Ethan Bear. That’s bad news for the Sharks. Donskoi has been humming along since the acquisition of winger Evander Kane, scoring six points in seven games since the trade. Last season, he had only 17 points through 61 games while fighting through a pair of shoulder ailments. “It’s tough,” teammate Logan Couture told the San Jose Mercury News. “It looked like it was possibly the same thing he hurt before. I haven’t seen him yet. You hope that he’s back sooner than later.”

5.

ABOUT THE SHARKS

The Sharks sit fifth in wins (15) when surrendering the opening goal, second in wins when trailing after the opening period (eight) and sixth in wins (five) when trailing after two frames … C Logan Couture’s teamleading 28 goals this season move him into fourth place on the Sharks all-time goals list, passing Owen Nolan with his 207th career tally … The Sharks cancelled their previously scheduled skate on Thursday.