FGD 16: A wing and a prayer (7pm MT, SN Flames)

After playing two very good periods and losing in the third period to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night, the Calgary Flames (8-7-0) are back in action when they host the Detroit Red Wings (8-7-1) at the Saddledome. The Red Wings have been idle since beating the Canucks in Vancouver on Monday night and will probably be a similarly-challenging club for the Flames. A loss would drop the Flames back to .500 on the season, while a victory could give them much-needed momentum heading into the end of their lengthy homestand.

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

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

Water is wet. Grass is green. Mike Smith starts for the 15th time in 16 games. He’s been good, but not amazing, over the past two games. He’s 8-6-0 with a 2.52 goals against average and a .923 save percentage. He’s been very good at five-on-five, with a .938 save percentage. The healthy scratches look to be Matt Bartkowski, Freddie Hamilton and Matt Stajan. Andersson’s inclusion means that nine different Flames draft classes will be represented in their lineup – feel great shame, 2010, as you’re the only class not pulling your weight.

The Flames scored two power play goals in one game for just the second time this season against Vancouver, but gave up two of their own (and a short handed goal) and failed to win the game. Glen Gulutzan has repeatedly emphasized the speciality teams game and the Flames pretty much have to at least break even in those situations to give themselves a chance to win.

Johnny Gaudreau comes in on a five game point streak. He’s got 19 points this season and is ninth in the NHL in scoring.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Petr Mrazek starts for the Winged Wheel tonight. He’s 2-2-1 with a 2.55 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. He hasn’t been quite as good as Jimmy Howard, but he’s been quite solid when called upon. The extras are Scott Wilson and Luke Witkowski.

The Red Wings are basically the Flames of the Eastern Conference these days, though their younger players are arguably less impactful than Calgary’s are. That said, their top six is a fun mix of speed, skill and experience. Their weakness is probably their defense, which isn’t all that amazing and arguably lacks a bit of footspeed apart from maybe Jonathan Ericsson.

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

Detroit: Johan Franzen (concussion) and Tyler Bertuzzi (wrist) are on the injured reserve. Danny Dekeyser (ankle) is injured but on the active roster.

The Flames played Detroit twice last season and won both games by 3-2 scores.

Here are some Red Wings accounts for your Twitter enjoyment:

The Flames start winding down their gigantic homestand with a game against a rested Red Wings team. The locals will need to be sharp, as Detroit is about as good as they are this season.

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