<p>Let&#8217;s remember the words of the immortal Lou Brown in the classic 1989 film Major League:</p>
<p>&#8220;OK, we won a game [Saturday]. If we win today, it&#8217;s called &#8220;two in a row&#8221;. And if we win again [Wednesday], it&#8217;s called a &#8220;winning streak&#8221;&#8230; It has happened before!&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>The Calgary Flames (11-12-3, 25 points) </strong>will try to win their second game in a row, and fifth game since Halloween, when they face<strong> the Pittsburgh Penguins (12-7-4, 28 points)</strong>.</p>
<p>This one begins at 5 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan!</p>
<h2><strong>The Flames</strong></h2>
<p>Projected lines, via <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/calgary-flames/line-combinations/">Daily Faceoff</a>:</p>
<p><em>Gaudreau &#8211; Monahan &#8211; Lindholm<br />
Tkachuk &#8211; Backlund &#8211; Mangiapane<br />
Dube &#8211; Ryan &#8211; Lucic<br />
Rieder &#8211; Jankowski &#8211; Frolik<br />
</em></p>
<p><em>Giordano &#8211; Brodie<br />
Hanifin &#8211; Andersson<br />
Kylington &#8211; Stone<br />
</em></p>
<p>David Rittich starts for the Flames, backed up by Cam Talbot. The projected scratches are Alexander Yelesin and Zac Rinaldo. TJ Brodie makes his return after his scary fainting spell 10 days ago. His return slots the defensive pairings in a more balanced way, so possibly that can help with game management. Brandon Davidson has been assigned to Stockton to open up a roster spot for Brodie.</p>
<p>The Flames played just fine on Saturday – they were out-chanced and out-higher-dangered – but Rittich was very good and the Flames got some goals at key times to win. Now that they have a bit of confidence and momentum, we&#8217;ll see if the Flames can build upon that success.</p>
<p>They&#8217;ve won a game, but they&#8217;re not out of the woods yet.</p>
<h2><strong>The Penguins<br />
</strong></h2>
<p>Projected lines, via <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/philadelphia-flyers/line-combinations/">Daily Faceoff</a>:</p>
<p><em>Guentzel &#8211; Malkin &#8211; Rust<br />
Galchenyuk &#8211; McCann &#8211; Tanev<br />
Kahun &#8211; Simon &#8211; Hornqvist<br />
Aston-Reese &#8211; Blueger &#8211; Lafferty<br />
</em></p>
<p><em>Dumoulin &#8211; Letang<br />
Pettersson &#8211; Trotman<br />
Johnson &#8211; Marino</em><em><br />
</em></p>
<p>Tristan Jarry starts for the Penguins, backed up by Matt Murray. The extra bodies are Chad Ruhwedel and Juuso Riikola. Kris Letang is a game time decision, but presumably with him being cleared and activated they&#8217;ll look to swap one of their extra D-men down to the AHL for a forward (or place Justin Schultz on the injury reserve to open a roster spot).</p>
<p>The Penguins are missing Sidney Crosby right now but surprisingly they continue to roll along. They have a deep team with smart coaching and their call-ups keep coming in and performing admirably. They&#8217;re a very tough test for the Flames this evening.</p>
<h2><strong>The Numbers</strong></h2>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>Flames</td>
<td>Penguins</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wins</td>
<td>11</td>
<td>12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Points</td>
<td>25</td>
<td>28</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Adjusted Corsi</td>
<td>50.9%</td>
<td>53.5%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Power Play</td>
<td>15.5%</td>
<td>15.4%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Penalty Kill</td>
<td>85.6%</td>
<td>86.7%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2><strong>Injury Report</strong></h2>
<p>The Flames are without D Travis Hamonic (lower body), F Sam Bennett (upper body), D Juuso Valimaki (ACL surgery) and F Austin Czarnik (lower body).</p>
<p>The Penguins are missing F Sidney Crosby (core muscle), D Justin Schultz (lower body) and F Nick Bjugstad (core muscle).</p>
<h2><strong>When Last We Met</strong></h2>
<p>These two clubs met twice in 2018-19. We all remember when the Penguins utterly clobbered the Flames by a 9-1 score in Calgary in October. But the Flames won the rematch 5-4 in a pretty wild afternoon game in February.</p>
<h2><strong>Know Thy Enemy</strong></h2>
<p>Here are some key Twitter peeps to follow for today&#8217;s game:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/real_robrossi?lang=en">Rob Rossi</a></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/acarducci">Angie Carducci</a></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/JMackeyPG">Jason Mackey</a></li>
</ul>

Let's remember the words of the immortal Lou Brown in the classic 1989 film Major League:

"OK, we won a game [Saturday]. If we win today, it's called "two in a row". And if we win again [Wednesday], it's called a "winning streak"... It has happened before!"

<strong>The Calgary Flames (11-12-3, 25 points) </strong>will try to win their second game in a row, and fifth game since Halloween, when they face<strong> the Pittsburgh Penguins (12-7-4, 28 points)</strong>.

This one begins at 5 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan!
<h2><strong>The Flames</strong></h2>
Projected lines, via <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/calgary-flames/line-combinations/">Daily Faceoff</a>:

<em>Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm
Tkachuk - Backlund - Mangiapane
Dube - Ryan - Lucic
Rieder - Jankowski - Frolik
</em>

<em>Giordano - Brodie
Hanifin - Andersson
Kylington - Stone
</em>

David Rittich starts for the Flames, backed up by Cam Talbot. The projected scratches are Alexander Yelesin and Zac Rinaldo. TJ Brodie makes his return after his scary fainting spell 10 days ago. His return slots the defensive pairings in a more balanced way, so possibly that can help with game management. Brandon Davidson has been assigned to Stockton to open up a roster spot for Brodie.

The Flames played just fine on Saturday – they were out-chanced and out-higher-dangered – but Rittich was very good and the Flames got some goals at key times to win. Now that they have a bit of confidence and momentum, we'll see if the Flames can build upon that success.

They've won a game, but they're not out of the woods yet.
<h2><strong>The Penguins
</strong></h2>
Projected lines, via <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/philadelphia-flyers/line-combinations/">Daily Faceoff</a>:

<em>Guentzel - Malkin - Rust
Galchenyuk - McCann - Tanev
Kahun - Simon - Hornqvist
Aston-Reese - Blueger - Lafferty
</em>

<em>Dumoulin - Letang
Pettersson - Trotman
Johnson - Marino</em><em>
</em>

Tristan Jarry starts for the Penguins, backed up by Matt Murray. The extra bodies are Chad Ruhwedel and Juuso Riikola. Kris Letang is a game time decision, but presumably with him being cleared and activated they'll look to swap one of their extra D-men down to the AHL for a forward (or place Justin Schultz on the injury reserve to open a roster spot).

The Penguins are missing Sidney Crosby right now but surprisingly they continue to roll along. They have a deep team with smart coaching and their call-ups keep coming in and performing admirably. They're a very tough test for the Flames this evening.
<h2><strong>The Numbers</strong></h2>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>Flames</td>
<td>Penguins</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wins</td>
<td>11</td>
<td>12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Points</td>
<td>25</td>
<td>28</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Adjusted Corsi</td>
<td>50.9%</td>
<td>53.5%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Power Play</td>
<td>15.5%</td>
<td>15.4%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Penalty Kill</td>
<td>85.6%</td>
<td>86.7%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2><strong>Injury Report</strong></h2>
The Flames are without D Travis Hamonic (lower body), F Sam Bennett (upper body), D Juuso Valimaki (ACL surgery) and F Austin Czarnik (lower body).

The Penguins are missing F Sidney Crosby (core muscle), D Justin Schultz (lower body) and F Nick Bjugstad (core muscle).
<h2><strong>When Last We Met</strong></h2>
These two clubs met twice in 2018-19. We all remember when the Penguins utterly clobbered the Flames by a 9-1 score in Calgary in October. But the Flames won the rematch 5-4 in a pretty wild afternoon game in February.
<h2><strong>Know Thy Enemy</strong></h2>
Here are some key Twitter peeps to follow for today's game:
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://twitter.com/real_robrossi?lang=en">Rob Rossi</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://twitter.com/acarducci">Angie Carducci</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://twitter.com/JMackeyPG">Jason Mackey</a></li>
</ul>

FGD 27: Trying to string two wins together in Pittsburgh (5pm MT, SN West)

Calgary kid Jackson Smith is one of the top blueliners in the 2025 NHL Draft class

Calgary Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar (52) skates with the puck against the Colorado Avalanche during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome.

MacKenzie Weegar named to Canada’s IIHF Worlds roster; Zayne Parekh to attend pre-tournament camp

The Flames will draft at 18th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft (with New Jersey’s pick)

Calgary Flames center Connor Zary (47) celebrates after his goal during the third period against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.

Recent articles from Ryan Pike

Breaking News