Calgary Flames Game Day 55: A matinee with the Red Wings (2pm MT)

After a massive home ice stumble on Thursday night, the Calgary Flames (25-24-5, 55 points) have a chance to redeem themselves as their continue their homestand on Saturday afternoon in a matinee clash with the Detroit Red Wings (27-20-6, 60 points). The Red Wings are currently in the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, while the Flames are trying to chase one down in the Western Conference.

The broadcast begins at 2 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. The Flames opened as -130 favourites against the Red Wings on Betway.

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

Huberdeau – Sharangovich – Kuzmenko
Zary – Kadri – Pospisil
Mangiapane – Backlund – Coleman
Hunt – Rooney – Duehr

Hanifin – Tanev
Weegar – Andersson
Kylington – Pachal

We’re projecting Jacob Markstrom to start in net, backed up by Dan Vladar. (There’s no morning skate due to the early start and Ryan Huska declined to confirm when speaking with the media on Friday, but Markstrom was reportedly in the starter’s net at Friday’s practice.) The projected extras are Jordan Oesterle and Dennis Gilbert. Jakob Pelletier remains out.

If you look at the last five games for the Flames, it’s their entire season in a nutshell. They were fantastic against Boston, pretty bad against San Jose, and somewhere in between in New Jersey and the two New York games. They won three out of five games. When they have all four lines and three pairings on the same page, they can grind an opponent down. But when they don’t, as we saw against San Jose, they don’t have a difference-making player that can steal them a game.

A loss against Detroit in regulation drops the Flames back down to .500. A win may salvage a bit of momentum for the remainder of the homestand.

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

James Reimer is expected to start in net, backed up by Alex Lyon. Robby Fabbri is expected to return after being away from the club for the birth of his child. It’s unclear who Fabbri bumps out, though. Justin Holl looks to be the other extra skater.

The Red Wings have lost three of their last four games (going 1-2-1), with a pair of losses to Vancouver and Edmonton by a combined 12-5 score to begin their western swing. (They play in Seattle before going back to Michigan on Monday night.) When Detroit is on their game, they play fast and use their speed to generate scoring chances. When they’re not on their game, and they’re not in sync, they’re a bit messy. The Red Wings are hoping to use this afternoon’s game as an opportunity to return to form.

The Flames are without Dillon Dube, A.J. Greer and Jakob Pelletier.

The Red Wings are without Matt Luff and Ville Husso.

This is the season series finale between these teams. Detroit beat the Flames by a 6-2 score back in October.