Calgary Flames Game Day 23: Ending November the way it began, against Dallas (7pm MT)

When November began, the Calgary Flames (9-10-3, 21 points) got a big boost of confidence with a close home loss to the Dallas Stars (13-5-2, 28 points). Over the weekend, they had a dramatic comeback win over Dallas. And on Wednesday night, the Flames will close out their season series (and the month of November) with a home game against the Stars. Can the Flames close things out on a winning note?

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. The Flames are +115 underdogs to beat the Stars on Betway.

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

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

Weegar – Andersson
Hanifin – Tanev
Gilbert – Oesterle

We’re projecting Jacob Markstrom to start in net, backed up by Dan Vladar. Their projected extra is Walker Duehr. Markstrom is expected to return after missing Monday’s game with an illness, while Chris Tanev is expected to play after blocking a shot with his face on Monday.

Wednesday’s game is the fourth game of a pretty brutal stretch in the Flames’ schedule. But they’ve won two of their first three outings in that stretch to start and have looked pretty good, but not perfect. They begin the evening a point out of a playoff spot, although they’re chasing teams that hold games-in-hand on them.

The big challenge for the Flames: figuring out the power play. Their five-on-five game has been quite effective in November, but their power play isn’t putting any fear into their opponents. If they can spruce up their special teams performances, they become a much more formidable hockey club.

Projected lines courtesy Daily Faceoff:

Robertson – Hintz – Pavelski
Marchment – Duchene – Seguin
Benn – Johnston – Dadonov
Steel – Faksa – Smith

Suter – Heiskanen
Lindell – Hakanpaa
Harley – Lundkvist

Based on reports from morning skate Scott Wedgewood is the expected starter, backed up by Jake Oettinger. The projected extra skaters are Joel Hanley and Ty Dellandrea.

Y’know what the difference is between the Flames and the Stars in November? A single goal. The Flames and Stars have identical goals against totals this month (39 each), but Dallas’ 46 goals for surpasses Calgary’s 45. One goal was also the margin in their first meeting back on Nov. 1.

The Stars are a good, deep team. Their goalie is awesome. Their defensive group is deep and stacked. They have four good lines. They’re fully deserving of their position in the standings.

The Flames are without Oliver Kylington, Jakob Pelletier and Kevin Rooney.

The Stars are healthy.

This is the third and final meeting between these clubs this season. They’ve split the first two meetings, with the road team winning both games so far.