Two nights after a dramatic, emotional Battle of Alberta victory, the Calgary Flames (11-8-1, 23 points) are back in action against the Vegas Golden Knights (9-11-1, 19 points). It’s a divisional match-up against an opponent that played (and beat) Edmonton on Sunday night and represents two key potential points for Calgary.
The action kicks off just after 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. It’s the Flames’ Hockey Fights Cancer game, so make sure to bring cash for the 50/50.

The Flames

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Gaudreau – Monahan – Lindholm
Tkachuk – Backlund – Bennett
Frolik – Ryan – Neal
Dube – Jankowski – Hathaway
Giordano – Brodie
Hanifin – Hamonic
Valimaki – Andersson
David Rittich starts for the Flames, backed up by Mike Smith. The scratches are Austin Czarnik, Michael Stone and Dalton Prout, as Bill Peters is making zero lineup changes from Saturday night aside from swapping James Neal with Garnet Hathaway on the right side.
The key for the Flames for Game 21 is a good start. They weren’t great in the first 40 minutes against Edmonton and managed to pull out a win, but they’re facing a Vegas squad that played on Sunday night. If they push the pace, they can potentially catch the Golden Knights flat-footed.
Other than that, the hope is for better showings from Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Giordano, who weren’t great against the Oilers, and continued strong play from Elias Lindholm, Travis Hamonic and Rittich. If the Flames can play every period like it’s the third period, they could be a formidable bunch.

The Golden Knights

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Marchessault – Karlsson – Smith
Pacioretty – Eakin – Tuch
Nosek – Carpenter – Hyka
Carrier – Bellemare – Reaves
Theodore – Schmidt
Miller – McNabb
Engelland – Holden
After Marc-Andre Fleury started in Edmonton, presumably Malcolm Subban starts against the Flames. Last night’s scratches were Jon Merrill, Brad Hunt and Tomas Nosek, and Nosek swaps back in for Chris Lindberg) by the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Adam Hill.
The Golden Knights have been an inconsistent bunch this season, marred by injuries and the inevitable statistical regression. But they’re still a pretty deep, scrappy team, and they beat Edmonton 6-3 last night at Rogers Place.

The Numbers

CGY
VGK
Wins
11
9
Points
22
19
Corsi Close
55.0%
57.9%
Power Play
18.3%
16.9%
Penalty Kill
76.6%
85.%

Injury Report

The Flames are healthy.
The Golden Knights are without Paul Stastny and Erik Haula.

Season Series

This is the first of four meetings between Calgary and Vegas this season. The Flames beat them once in their inaugural season.

Know Thy Enemy

Your Golden Knights Twitter follows for tonight:

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