In the fourth game of their lengthy five game road swing, the Calgary Flames (33-25-7, 73 points) are down in Florida for the first of two back to back afternoon games. First up? A visit to their opponents in the 2004 Stanley Cup Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning (40-19-5, 85 points).
The action starts around 2 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.
(It was in.)

The Flames

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Mangiapane – Backlund – Tkachuk
Gaudreau – Monahan – Lindholm
Lucic – Ryan – Dube
Bennett – Jankowski – Rieder
Giordano – Brodie
Hanifin – Andersson
Forbort – Gustafsson
Cam Talbot is expected to start for the Flames, backed up by David Rittich. The extras are Michael Stone, Oliver Kylington and Zac Rinaldo. Don’t expect any major lineup changes, as the Flames got Mark Giordano back last game and looked pretty dang good aside from the last 10 seconds of the third period against Nashville.
The Flames are on a nice little run, having captured five of a possible six points so far on this trip and rolling along at a 6-3-1 clip over their last 10 games. That’s a pace that will probably get them into the playoffs. More heartening is the structured, composed, mature style they’ve shown in Boston and Nashville. They battled in both games and while it’s a tough way to play, it’s a style they need to become familiar with if they’re going to make any noise in the playoffs.
If they get there.

The Lightning

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Palat – Point – Kucherov
Coleman – Cirelli – Killorn
Gourde – Goodrow – Johnson
Verhaeghe – Paquette – Stephens
Hedman – Cernak
Sergachev – Shattenkirk
Coburn – Bogosian
Andrei Vasilevskiy starts for the Lightning, backed up by (Forever A Flame) Curtis McElhinney. They’re not carrying any healthy extra bodies right now. Heck, I’m still amazed that the roster they do have is somehow cap compliant.
The Lightning are, at their best, basically the NHL’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters. But they’ve had some bad habits creep into their game, as some injuries and the notion that their playoff spot is all but assured has led to some minor malaise. They’ve lost four in a row and are definitely grumpy about it. They’re a beatable team right now, but the Flames will need to take the game to them and not give them an inch of breathing room.

The Numbers

Flames
Lightning
Wins
33
40
Points
73
85
Adjusted Corsi
50.3%
53.7%
Power Play
20.1%
22.7%
Penalty Kill
82.6%
82.0%

Injury Report

The Flames are without D Juuso Valimaki (ACL surgery) and D Travis Hamonic (upper body).
The Lightning are missing D Braydon Coburn (lower body), D Jan Rutta (lower body), D Ryan McDonagh (lower body), C Steven Stamkos (lower body) and F Pat Maroon (undisclosed).

When Last We Met

This is the first of two meetings between Calgary and Tampa this season. They close out the season series in mid-March back at the Saddledome.

Know Thy Enemy

Here are some key Twitter peeps to follow for tonight: