Looking to bounce back from an embarrassing 9-1 loss on home ice to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday Brandon Saad Jersey , the Calgary Flames will face yet another tough opponent on Saturday.The Flames (5-5-0) will host the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals (4-3-2) in an afternoon affair at the Scotiabank Saddledome.A day after giving up six goals on 21 shots to the Penguins, goalie Mike Smith met with the media on Friday to talk about the disappointing loss.Article continues below ...“I don’t think anyone can be very proud of what happened (Thursday) night,” said Smith, who has allowed at least four goals in five of his past seven starts. “It was an embarrassment as far as I’m concerned, and I think everyone realizes that, but it’s over.“To blame guys would be an easy thing to do, an easy out. The harder thing is to just go and work hard and try to climb out of this thing.”Despite his lackluster performance against the Penguins, Smith will get the chance to redeem himself as he will get the start against the Caps.“It’s pretty early still,” Smith said. “I think if you… start pouting and feel sorry for yourself Brent Seabrook Jersey Kids , it’s going to be a really long year. You have to realize that, put things in perspective and keep working hard and pushing forward.”Calgary coach Bill Peters refused to blame the loss to Pittsburgh on Smith or backup goalie David Rittich, who surrendered three goals on 15 shots in relief. “Once we start playing a little bit better away from the puck — not a little bit better, quite a bit better — and with a commitment to playing defense as a group and as a unit of five, then we can talk about our goaltending,” Peters said. “We’re going to go right back to Smitty (Saturday) and give our group a chance to redeem themselves for that effort (Thursday) night.”Meanwhile, the Capitals will be looking to follow up a disappointing 4-1 loss in Edmonton on Thursday with a better performance against the Flames.“We lost as well, so we don’t want to lose two in a row so we’re going to play differently as well,” said reigning Conn Smyth Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin Youth Corey Crawford Jersey , who expects the Flames to “come out flying” in front of their hometown fans.Nine games into the season, the Capitals still haven’t found a way to string together back-to-back wins, which is something that defenseman Matt Niskanen and his teammates would like to change.“I think we’re still searching for (consistency),” Niskanen said. “We’ll keep a positive attitude and keep working, but I’d like to see us string a few together here with some better efforts.“The good thing about our group is (something) we’ve kind of developed over the last couple years is we rebound pretty well. We have responses. We’ll look for that in Calgary, but I think we all know we can play better.”Forward Chandler Stephenson echoed Niskanen’s sentiments about the Capitals finding the consistency that helped them win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.“We’re not panicking in here or pressing the panic button, so it’s just a matter of time,” Stephenson said. “We’ll be right where we want to b WASHINGTON (AP) — The NHL Players’ Association has filed an appeal on behalf of Tom Wilson after the Capitals forward was suspended 20 games for an illegal check to the head.The NHLPA announced the expected move Friday, which had to happen within 48 hours of the Department of Player Safety suspending Wilson. Commissioner Gary Bettman will hear the appeal Womens Duncan Keith Jersey , though the date has not been determined.Wilson was suspended for his hit on Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist in Washington’s preseason finale. It is the fourth suspension of Wilson’s career, all coming in the past 13 months, and will cost him over $1.26 million in salary as a repeat offender if it’s upheld.This is the seventh appeal Bettman will hear since 2012. He upheld bans of 10 games for Antoine Vermette in 2017, 20 for Dennis Wideman in 2016 and 15 games for Shawn Thornton and 10 games for Patrick Kaleta in 2013. He reduced Daniel Carcillo’s 10-game suspension to six in 2014 and Raffi Torres’ 25-game suspension to 21 in 2012.If Bettman upholds this suspension, Wilson and the NHLPA could appeal to a neutral arbitrator. Wideman’s ban for striking an official was reduced to 10 games by an arbitrator, though he had already served 19 by the time that decision was rendered.