The presents have been unwrapped and now it’s time to get back to work. The Calgary Flames (22-12-3, 47 points) are back in action tonight in what’s bound to be a heck of a hockey game as they visit the Winnipeg Jets (24-10-2, 50 points). It’s the top team in the Pacific against the top team in the Central with bragging rights and two points on the line.
The action begins at 6 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.
For a view from the other side, check out JetsNation!

The Flames

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Gaudreau – Monahan – Lindholm
Tkachuk – Backlund –  Bennett
Quine – Jankowski – Neal
Frolik – Ryan – Hathaway
Giordano – Brodie
Hanifin – Hamonic
Kylington – Andersson
After his strong performance against the Lightning, David Rittich is back in net (backed up by Mike Smith). The projected healthy scratches are Dalton Prout and Austin Czarnik.
The Flames come out of the holiday break two points up on the Sharks (with a game in hand) for first place in the Pacific and with an eight point cushion on the last playoff spot. But they’ve also lost three in a row, and need to get back to banking points and chugging along towards the post-season.
The Jets are a big, big test, but they’re also an obstacle the Flames will need to overcome if they want to do anything of note past Apr. 6.

The Jets

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Ehlers – Scheifele – Wheeler
Connor – Little – Laine
Perreault – Lowry – Tanev
Copp – Roslovic – Appleton
Morrissey – Trouba
Chiarot – Byfuglien
Kulikov – Myers
Connor Hellebuyck starts for the Jets, backed up by Flames 2011 draft pick Laurent Brossoit. Nic Petan, Brendan Lemieux and Joe Morrow are the projected scratches.
The Jets are a deep, talented team, but they’ve also been prone to inconsistency. The Flames trounced them when these teams met in November, and that’s not something this group is likely to forget. Expect to see a motivated Winnipeg side this evening.

The Numbers

CGY
WPG
Wins
22
24
Points
47
50
Corsi Close
54.1%
50.7%
Power Play
22.5%
28.7%
Penalty Kill
80.0%
81.5%

Injury Report

The Flames are without Juuso Valimaki, Andrew Mangiapane and Michael Stone.
The Jets are healthy.

Season Series

This is the second of three games between these teams this season. The Flames beat the Jets 6-3 back in November. The season series closes out in Winnipeg on Mar. 16.

Know Thy Enemy

Your Jets Twitter follows for tonight:

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