Flames at Canucks preview

FLAMES (0-0-0) at CANUCKS (0-0-0)
10 p.m. ET; SN, NHL.TV

The Game

Coach Bill Peters make his Calgary Flames debut along with seven new players against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Wednesday.
Forwards James Neal, Elias Lindholm, Austin Czarnik, Dillon Dube and Derek Ryan, and defensemen Juuso Valimaki and Noah Hanifin each will play his first game for Calgary.
Lindholm, Ryan and Hanafin played for Peters with the Carolina Hurricanes last season; Ryan was signed as a free agent July 1, and Lindholm and Hanifin were acquired in a June 23 trade for defenseman Dougie Hamilton, forward Micheal Ferland and defenseman prospect
Adam Fox
. Neal and Czarnik each was signed as a free agent July 1, and Dube and Valimaki each is a rookies making his NHL debut.
The Canucks will be playing their first game since the end of the 1999-2000 season without either Henrik Sedin or Daniel Sedin, who retired at the end of last season ranked first and second in Vancouver history in games played, assists and points.
Canucks rookie forward Elias Pettersson, 19, will make his NHL debut after leading the Swedish Hockey League in scoring with 56 points (24 goals, 32 assists) in 44 games last season.
Center Jay Beagle, who was signed as a free agent after winning the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals last season, will also make his Canucks debut.

Players to watch

Lindholm, who had 44 points (16 goals, 28 assists) in 81 games last season, debuts on the top line and power-play unit with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.
Pettersson led the Canucks in preseason scoring with six points (one goal, five assists) in five games and will run the top power-play unit.

They said it

"Our group is excited about this season, and it's about starting it off on the right foot." -- Flames goaltender Mike Smith
"I've been looking forward to this my whole life, and now I'm here." - Canucks forward Elias Pettersson

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik
Dillon Dube -- Derek Ryan -- James Neal
Sam Bennett -- Mark Jankowski -- Austin Czarnik
Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
Juuso Valimaki -- Michael Stone
Mike Smith
David Rittich
Scratched: Curtis Lazar, Garnet Hathaway, Dalton Prout
Injured: None

Canucks projected lineup

Sven Baertschi -- Bo Horvat -- Brock Boeser
Nikolay Goldobin -- Elias Pettersson -- Loui Eriksson
Tyler Motte -- Brandon Sutter -- Jake Virtanen
Brendan Leipsic -- Jay Beagle -- Mikael Granlund
Alexander Edler -- Chris Tanev
Michael Del Zotto -- Troy Stecher
Derrick Pouliot -- Erik Gudbranson
Jacob Markstrom
Anders Nilsson
Scratched: Ben Hutton, Tim Schaller, Alex Biega
Injured:Antoine Roussel (concussion)

Status report

Virtanen missed practice Tuesday with back spasms but is expected to play. Roussel, who was injured before training camp, could return to practice by the end of the week.

Stat pack

Calgary was 4-3-3 in the preseason and won both games against Vancouver. … The Canucks were 1-6-0 in the preseason. They have won four straight season openers.