FGD 15: Hitting the reset button in Vancouver (8pm MT, SN One)

For the third time this week, the Calgary Flames (7-6-1, 15 points) are playing the Vancouver Canucks (7-11-0, 14 points) at Rogers Arena. The Canucks were as good on Saturday as the Flames were bad, with the Canucks out-shooting and out-chancing the Flames in every period and game situation. The Flames will hope to reset and salvage two out of three wins from their week in Vancouver.

The puck drops just after 8 p.m. MT and you can catch the action on Sportsnet One or on Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Tkachuk – Lindholm – Mangiapane
Gaudreau – Monahan – Simon
Lucic – Bennett – Dube
Nordstrom – Froese – Robinson

Giordano – Valimaki
Hanifin – Tanev
Mackey – Andersson

Jacob Markstrom is tonight’s confirmed starter, backed up by David Rittich. Beyond that, everything’s a game-time decision. Dominik Simon probably comes in for an injured (day-to-day) Mikael Backlund, with Brett Ritchie and Nikita Nesterov scratches. The taxi squad is Louis Domingue, Connor Mackey, Oliver Kylington, Glenn Gawdin, Zac Rinaldo and Buddy Robinson, with Mackey likely being activated for the game.

The Flames will be looking to find some consistency, and they’ll be looking for it without the services of their most consistent two-way player, Backlund. So their best line won’t be intact, which could lead to other changes. Needless to say, the team’s execution was way off on Saturday and the only thing that was worth a damn was Markstrom. So… nowhere to go but up, eh?

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Boeser – Pettersson – Miller
Pearson – Horvat – Hoglander
Roussel – Gaudette – Sutter
Eriksson – Beagle – Virtanen

Edler – Schmidt
Juolevi – Myers
Hughes – Benn

Tkatcher Demko starts for the Canucks, backed up by Braden Holtby. Their active extras are Jalen Chatfield and Zach MacEwen. Their taxi squad is Michael DiPietro, Guillaume Brisebois, Jack Rathbone, Brogan Rafferty and Marc Michaelis.

Expect no changes for Vancouver, as they were really good on Saturday. They played smart and with good structure in all three zones. The big question is: can they be consistent and find a way to build upon that strong outing?

If you peruse most standings projections, it becomes apparent that 65 points probably gets you into the playoffs. That’s a 32-23-1 record, or thereabouts, or a .580 points percentage.

The Flames have a 7-6-1 record, 15 points, and a .536 points percentage. They need 50 more points to punch their ticket to the post-season, the equivalent of a .595 points percentage over the remaining 42 games.

The Flames are without Derek Ryan and Mikael Backlund.

The Canucks are without Justin Bailey, Tyler Motte, Travis Hamonic, Micheal Ferland and Jayce Hawryluk.

The Flames have beaten Vancouver three times this season – by scores of 3-0, 5-2 and 3-1 – but lost 3-1 on Saturday.

Your recommended Twitter follows for tonight’s contest: