Backup goalie ready for starting role

Occasionally, when he’s at home in Sweden for the off-season and cruising around on the ice with a group of players training for the summer, Mikael Backlund will play defence.

So, partnering with Dalton Prout on Friday as the Calgary Flames’ extra blueline tandem wasn’t completely foreign to him.

But, in the bigger picture, the team’s top shutdown centre was back on the ice and skating normally, suffering no symptoms from a suspected concussion. He was wearing a regular coloured jersey that signals he’s ready for contact.

Backlund suffered the suspected concussion on a hit from Matt Dumba during last Thursday ’s 2-0 win over the Minnesota Wild, but he’s getting close to a return to game action.

“It’s fun to be back out with the guys again, and I feel good,” said Backlund, after Flames head coach Bill Peters confirmed the secondline centre would travel with the team on a three-game road trip.

“The last few days have been good, and this week has been a good week. The weekend was tougher, obviously, but this week I’ve been feeling better.”

Backlund didn’t declare himself good to go and Peters said he wouldn’t play against the Wild on Saturday.

But there’s a good chance he’ll draw in at some point on a road trip that also sees the Flames visit the St. Louis Blues on Sunday and the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

WAKE-UP CALL

Just after Friday ’s practice started, Peters blew his whistle, spit out a few words unsuitable for young children, and lined up the players at the goal-line.

After a sleepy start to practice, you knew what was coming next — some extra skating.

It was enough to wake them up, something Peters felt the group needed after Wednesday’s 6-5 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers and a day off on Thursday.

“Got to get the work in,” Peters said. “So, let’s go. Let’s get the work in, let’s play fast, let’s play hard, and get back to being who we are. Let’s not be so inconsistent. Let’s go out and set the tone for games.”

The Flames (20-10-2) are in a logjam atop the Western Conference, jockeying with Nashville (21-10-1) and Winnipeg (20-9-2) for the overall lead.

FOOT ON THE GAS PEDAL

Although the Flames got the job done in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, there were plenty of defensive miscues and turnovers that just can’t happen.

They were also outshot 7-0 early against Philadelphia, a rather slow start considering the way they finished.

The players themselves know they have to continue to improve.

“Listen, it’s early (in the season),” said Flames captain Mark Giordano. “What do we have, like, 42 points? I think you need close to 100 to get in (the playoffs). There’s a long way to go.”