Calgary Flames Game Day 44: A rematch against the Coyotes (7pm MT)

Riding a three game winning streak, including sweeping a two game road trip with their dads and mentors, the Calgary Flames (20-18-5, 45 points) will try to inch closer to a playoff spot! But they face a test in the form of the Arizona Coyotes (21-18-2, 44 points), a team that will be motivated by revenge after the Flames beat them soundly at Mullett Arena back on Thursday night.

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. The Flames opened as -170 favourites against the Coyotes on Betway.

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

Dube – Lindholm – Sharangovich
Zary – Kadri – Pospisil
Mangiapane – Backlund – Coleman
Greer – Ruzicka – Duehr

Hanifin – Tanev
Andersson – Weegar
Oesterle – DeSimone

We’re projecting Dan Vladar to start in net, backed up by Dustin Wolf. Projected extras look to be just Dennis Gilbert. Jacob Markstrom is out day-to-day with an injury. Jonathan Huberdeau was announced as out due to illness prior to warm-up.

The Flames are on a bit of a run, gang. They won three in a row starting with New Year’s Eve, then lost a pair, and have most recently rolled off three wins in a row. They’ll try to win four games in a row for the first time this season, and the first time since they did it late last season. The Flames need wins if they want to claw their way into a playoff spot, and they especially need wins against the teams also in the playoff mix.

Keep an eye on Yegor Sharangovich, who had a hat trick last time out against The Coyotes.

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

Keller – McBain – Schmaltz
Maccelli – Kerfoot – Crouse
Cooley – Bjugstad – Guenther
Zucker – O’Brien

Moser – Durzi
Dermott – Dumba
Stecher – Kesselring
Brown

We’re projecting Connor Ingram to start in net, backed up by Karel Vejmelka. The expected extras are Michael Carcone and Juuso Valimaki.

The Coyotes are a weird team right now. They out-battled Boston for a 4-3 overtime win on Tuesday. Then they were thumped by the Flames by a 6-2 score on home ice. They bounced back with a 6-0 shutout win over Minnesota 48 hours later. They’re capable of looking really, really good, and quite bad. Heck, sometimes both in the same game.

The Coyotes are in a bit of a slide lately, going 2-4-0 in their last six outings, but they’re still capable of beating any team on any night.

The Flames are without Oliver Kylington and Jacob Markstrom.

The Coyotes are without Bryan Little, Jacub Voracek, Shea Weber, Barrett Hayton, Vladislav Kolyachonok and Travis Boyd.

This is the second of three meetings between the Flames and Coyotes this season. The Flames beat the Coyotes six days ago. They’ll finish off the season series in April.