FGD 15: Invasion from the west coast (7pm MT, SN West)

Winners of three in a row at home, the Calgary Flames (8-6-0) hope to continue their winning ways tonight at the Saddledome when they face the Vancouver Canucks (7-5-2) for the second time this season. Not only that, it appears to be the return of hockey legend Jaromir Jagr to the Flames lineup. Can the Flames, bolstered by three scoring lines, take advantage of a tired team playing their backup goaltender? We’ll find out tonight!

The puck drops at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet 960 The Fan and Sportsnet West.

Here are tonight’s projected lines, courtesy of Daily Faceoff:

To the shock of nobody, Mike Smith gets the start. He’s 8-5-0 with a 2.31 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. He was okay in the Flames’ 5-4 shootout win over New Jersey on Sunday, but it was easily his worst outing of the season to this point. The healthy scratches are Matt Stajan, Freddie Hamilton, Tanner Glass and Rasmus Andersson. As noted by Sportsnet’s Cassie Campbell-Pascall on the weekend, Andersson’s here both as a replacement for Travis Hamonic and because Mark Giordano’s wife is expecting a child at any moment. Don’t expect to see Andersson unless Baby Giordano arrives right around game time.

Johnny Gaudreau has 18 points in 14 games. He’s been consistently good, but hasn’t really had a breakout offensive game yet. He’s probably due, as are the Flames entire bottom six. The return of Jagr to the Flames couldn’t come at a better time, as Bennett and Jankowski have been buzzing and potentially could break out with a strong third player on their line.

Vancouver lines from last night via Daily Faceoff:

With Anders Nilsson off due to the birth of his child, and Jacob Markstrom having started last night against the Red Wings, Thatcher Demko gets the start tonight (making his first NHL appearance). That’s right, the Flames don’t just get a backup but actually get Vancouver’s AHL starter on the second night of a back-to-back. The extras last night were Patrick Wiercioch and Brendan Gaunce, so one or both could slide in tonight to keep things fresh.

The Canucks lost 3-2 at home to Detroit last night, with goals from Daniel Sedin and Michael del Zotto. They’re a team in transition, with a nice mix of speed, skill and youth. But then they also have guys like the Sedins, Vanek and Dorsett kicking around, indicating that the stylistic transition hasn’t quite been completed yet.

Flames: Daniel Pribyl (knee), Jaromir Jagr (lower-body) and Travis Hamonic (lower-body) are on the injured reserve.

Vancouver: Alexander Edler (knee), Loui Eriksson (knee) and Troy Stecher (knee) are on the injured reserve.

The Flames faced Vancouver back in October, winning 5-2 off goals from Mark Giordano, Travis Hamonic, Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Dougie Hamilton. They’ll play each other twice more in December to close out the season series.

Enjoy tonight’s game by interacting with these nice Canucks accounts:

It’s a game against a key divisional opponent! It’s a game against arguably the Flames’ most bitter rival! Most importantly, it’s a game against a team that played last night in a different city, and that’s playing an inexperienced goaltender. These are points the Flames need to have if they have aspirations of being a playoff team.

Let Panago Pizza’s new #RoadToTheCup Hockey Combo fuel the game. Order one tonight.