FGD 14: Back home to host the Avalanche (7pm MT, SN One)
By Ryan Pike
5 years agoIt’s November! The Calgary Flames (7-5-1, 15 points) kick the month off with a big game against a Western Conference foe, the Colorado Avalanche (7-3-2, 16 points). After three consecutive strong outings, can the Flames keep things rolling along?
The action starts at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.
The Flames
Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Gaudreau – Monahan – Lindholm
Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik
Bennett – Jankowski – Neal
Hathaway – Ryan – Dube
Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik
Bennett – Jankowski – Neal
Hathaway – Ryan – Dube
Giordano – Brodie
Hanifin – Hamonic
Valimaki – Andersson
Hanifin – Hamonic
Valimaki – Andersson
Mike Smith starts for the Flames, backed up by David Rittich. The projected scratches are Dalton Prout (again), Michael Stone and Austin Czarnik. (It’s Prout’s 13th healthy scratch this season, easily leading the team.)
The Flames have played three good games in a row and have points in three straight games (2-0-1). The keys tonight? More of the same. They’ll need a better start than they got in Buffalo, as Rittich had to be very sharp early, and ideally their special teams units will step up and help out what’s been a pretty stingy even strength club lately.
The Avalanche
Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Landeskog – MacKinnon – Rantanen
Kerfoot – Kamenev – Wilson
Nieto – Soderberg – Calvert
Dano – Dries – Greer
Kerfoot – Kamenev – Wilson
Nieto – Soderberg – Calvert
Dano – Dries – Greer
Girard – Johnson
Cole – Barrie
Zadorov – Nemeth
Cole – Barrie
Zadorov – Nemeth
Semyon Varlamov starts for Colorado, backed up by Philip Grubauer. Their scratches are Mark Barberio and Gabriel Bourque.
The Avalanche are playing their first game since Saturday; they’ve had four days off after playing three games in their previous four evenings. They lost two of those three games, so they’re looking to return to form. They’re short a few key bodies, but they’re still young, fast and talented.
The Numbers
| CGY | COL | |
| Wins | 7 | 7 |
| Points | 15 | 16 |
| Corsi Close | 53.2% | 49.7% |
| Power Play | 15.1% | 23.9% |
| Penalty Kill | 72.7% | 88.5% |
Injury Report
The Flames are healthy.
The Avalanche are without JT Compher, Tyson Jost and Sven Andrighetto, who are all on the injured reserve right now.
History Lesson
This is the second game between Calgary and Colorado this season. The Flames beat them in Denver in October after giving up two goals in the first two and a half minutes. It was that game where Gaudreau scored in overtime and Rittich was celebrating before he even scored. They’ll play once more in Calgary in January.
Know Thy Enemy
Your Avalanche Twitter follows for tonight:
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