Calgary Flames Game Day 68: One more trip to Tempe to face the Coyotes (8pm MT, SN1/360/960)
By Ryan Pike
6 days agoBe sure to check Betway for the latest Flames game NHL odds!
Winners of their of their past four games, the Calgary Flames (30-24-13, 73 points) are headed to Tempe, Arizona for their second and final visit to Mullett Arena to face the Arizona Coyotes (24-32-11, 59 points). The Coyotes are looking to play spoiler, while the Flames flat-out need points to stay alive in the playoff race.
The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One, Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet 960 The Fan!
The Flames
Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:
Pelletier – Lindholm – Toffoli
Huberdeau – Kadri – Dube
Mangiapane – Backlund – Coleman
Lucic – Lewis – Duehr
Huberdeau – Kadri – Dube
Mangiapane – Backlund – Coleman
Lucic – Lewis – Duehr
Weegar – Andersson
Hanifin – Tanev
Zadorov – Stecher
Hanifin – Tanev
Zadorov – Stecher
We’re projecting Jacob Markstrom to start in net, making his seventh start in a row for the Flames. He’s backed up by Dan Vladar. The projected extra skaters are Nick Ritchie, Adam Ruzicka and Dennis Gilbert.
The good news is that the Flames have won three of their last four games. The bad news is that they rattled off five losses in five games prior to that. In their past 10 games, the Flames have posted a 4-4-2 record. For a team that’s trying to climb into the playoffs, that’s not good enough. They need to make winning three of four games the rule, not the exception.
The Coyotes
Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:
Keller – Hayton – Ritchie
Maccelli – McBain – Crouse
O’Brien – Boyd – Schmaltz*
Fischer* – Dauphin – Kassian
Maccelli – McBain – Crouse
O’Brien – Boyd – Schmaltz*
Fischer* – Dauphin – Kassian
Valimaki – Brown
Nemeth – Moser
Mackey – Soderstrom
Nemeth – Moser
Mackey – Soderstrom
We’re projecting Connor Ingram to start in net, backed up by Karel Vejmelka. (They’re also carrying Ivan Prosvetov as their third goaltender.) Nick Schmaltz and Christian Fischer both missed their last game, and were replaced by emergency call-ups Milos Kelemen and Boko Imama. They’ve both been returned to AHL Tucson, but if somebody can’t go, they seem likely to be the first guys brought up.
The Coyotes are 20 points out of the playoffs. Their players are playing fast, loose, consequence-free hockey, and that makes them an incredibly dangerous team for a team like Calgary to be facing right now. The Flames are going to need to be dialed-in from the get-go in order to grab control of the game, otherwise chasing the Coyotes could make for a very long evening.
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Unavailable players
The Flames are without Oliver Kylington and Michael Stone.
The Coyotes are without Shea Weber, Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd, Jakub Voracek, Christian Fischer and Nick Schmaltz.
It’s a race!
The Flames enter Tuesday’s games chasing a few teams:
- They’re tied with Nashville for ninth place, but Nashville has three games in hand.
- They’re six points behind Winnipeg (for the final wild-card spot).
- They’re seven points behind Edmonton (for the first wild-card spot).
- They’re eight points behind Seattle (for the final divisional spot).
To reach 95 points (and have a reasonable chance at a playoff spot), the Flames need 22 points over the final 15 games – that’s a .733 pace in their remaining games.
If the season ended today, by virtue of points percentage, the Flames would be drafting 14th overall (before the lottery).
The numbers
| Flames | Coyotes | |
| 30 | Wins | 24 |
| 73 (.545) | Points (%) | 59 (.440) |
| 55.1 | xGF% | 43.2 |
| 19.5 | PP% | 19.2 |
| 81.7 | PK% | 75.4 |
Head to head
This is the third of three meetings between these teams this season. The Flames have won the first two games.
Social life
Here are your recommended follows from Coyotes Twitter:
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