FGD 23: Black Friday in Vegas (4pm MT, SN1)

After spending Thanksgiving Day in America, the Calgary Flames (13-8-1, 27 points) are back in action against the Vegas Golden Knights (10-12-1, 21 points). It’s a rematch from Monday evening’s drubbing of the Knights, and they’re in the mood for a bit of revenge.

It’s an early one, starting at 4 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. Duck out of work early and start your weekend in style.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

The man known to fans as “Timely Save David,” David Rittich, starts for the Flames this evening. He’s backed up by Mike Smith, who probably goes in Arizona on Sunday afternoon. The Flames began today with no extra healthy bodies, but have welcomed a pair of them (Oliver Kylington and Ryan Lomberg) from Stockton to sit in the press box just in case.

The Flames have been scoring a lot of goals lately. Many, many goals. But with those many goals has come a bit of defensive looseness. It hasn’t hurt them, because they’ve gotten strong goaltending of late from the aforementioned Timely Save David, but a bit more attention to detail on the defensive side in terms of their breakouts and their back-checking could really help make life easier for them.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Marc-Andre Fleury starts for the Golden Knights, following Malcolm Subban’s rather tumultuous (seven goal) appearance on Monday. The healthy scratches look to be Jon Merrill and Chris Lindberg. (Brad Hunt is on the active roster, but is injured.)

The Golden Knights are an up and down club this season. But they’re gonna be an angry bunch coming off the Flames tuning them up on Monday night, and they’ve got a good coach that has last change at home. It’s going to be very interesting to see how Gerard Gallant tries to wear the Flames’ big guns down and whether Calgary’s depth players can be difference-makers like they were on Wednesday night against Winnipeg.

The Flames are without Michael Frolik and Michael Stone.

The Golden Knights are without Paul Stastny and Erik Haula.

This is the second of four meetings between these teams this season. The Flames won the opener by a 7-2 score at home on Monday.

Your Golden Knights Twitter follows for tonight:

From peewee to the pros, Albertans love the atmosphere, energy, and life lessons that take place at rinks across the province. And where there’s an arena, you’ll find an ATB branch nearby—with our team members cheering and fundraising along with you. See more information at ATB.com.