When games began on November 15, the Calgary Flames were the worst team in the National Hockey League. Tonight, they begin the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Anaheim Ducks. The Flames are a decided underdog in their Western Conference quarterfinal series, as the Ducks (a) won the division, (b) handily won the season series against the Flames and (c) have home ice advantage. The Flames can put expectations on their ear with a Game 1 victory in the Honda Center, a place they haven’t won since the spring of 2006.

The puck drops at 8:30 p.m. MT on CBC (with Rick Ball and John Garrett) and Sportsnet 960 The Fan (with Derek Wills and Peter Loubardias).

Lines via Daily Faceoff:

It’s a status quo lineup for the most part for the Flames!

Brian Elliott starts for the Flames. He was superb down the stretch for the club and is one of the reasons they’re here. He’ll be backed up by 2012 draft pick Jon Gillies, who’s up temporarily due to a groin injury to Chad Johnson suffered in Calgary’s last trip to the O.C. Johnson is said to be close to a return, though.

Beyond Gillies in for Johnson, this is the Flames team that won 10 in a row and went on a crazy run after January 24. Whether it’s beer on a train (it’s not) or figuring out how to play coherent 200-foot hockey (bingo), the Flames looked like a confident bunch with a lot of swagger for about two months. If they can regain that swagger – and Elliott is very sharp – they could steal a game in Anaheim.

The good news? The Flames converted on 23.5% of power play opportunities in their five games against Anaheim. The bad news? They allowed goals on 30% of Anaheim’s power plays. They need to win the special teams battle to have a chance here.

Lines via Daily Faceoff:

It’s mostly a status quo lineup for the Ducks!

John Gibson starts. Jonathan Bernier is his back-up. Both are really good goalies. Nick Ritchie serves the second game of his suspension for sucker-punching Michal Rozsival in Anaheim’s second-last game of the regular season. Given the Flames preponderance of Michaels, Micheals and Mikaels, expect swift retribution in Game 2. For now, Ondrej Kase dresses in his place.

The key to victory? Don’t let anybody named Ryan score. The Ducks have a pair of pretty solid Ryans – Getzlaf and Kesler – and shutting them down is a good way to ensure you get more goals than they do.

Some Ducks follows for tonight’s contest:

It’s Game 1 of the playoffs! A few months ago it seemed like the Flames would be watching this on TV, so savour the moment a bit. And then engage in three-plus hours of white-knuckling it, as this is the time of year that the games really count.

It takes 16 wins to capture the Stanley Cup. The best way to start? Win one, and go from there.