FGD 24: The Leafs come to town (7pm MT, SN West)

When the Calgary Flames home schedule comes out, there are always a few games that you circle on the calendar. Tonight’s game is one of them, as the Flames (13-9-1) host the Toronto Maple Leafs (15-9-1) in a game that will most likely have the Saddledome both full and rollicking as fandoms wearing red and blue will be making a lot of noise. The two teams have a great deal of history – recall the woeful Doug Gilmour mega-trade and that post Super Bowl game where the Flames sat all their good players for showing up late for practice – but these days they’re both considered talented teams on the rise.

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

Projected lines for tonight, courtesy of Daily Faceoff:

After David Rittich’s performance in Colorado, Mike Smith is back in net. He’s 11-7-1 with a 2.65 goals against average and a .922 save percentage. The healthy scratches are Matt Bartkowski and Curtis Lazar, while Kris Versteeg is out again due to a lower-body injury.

Only seven Flames scored goals on the road trip: Sean Monahan (6), Johnny Gaudreau (4), Micheal Ferland (3), Mikael Backlund (2), Michael Frolik, Dougie Hamilton and Mark Giordano. Right there’s everything you need to know about this team. They’ve been reliant on three players for most of their offense, though the rest of the club has gotten chances here and there. They’ll need to get more out of their secondary group and their penalty kill if they hope to turn a corner and become a very good hockey club.

Despite these two teams not being traditional rivals, somehow games between these two clubs end up being emotionally charged:

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Freddie Andersen gets the start for the Leafs. He’s 13-7-1 with a 2.79 goals against average and a .918 save percentage. He’s backed up by 2002 Flames pick Curtis “McBackup” McElhinney, who’s on his sixth different team as a caddy. The healthy scratches are Connor Carrick, Josh Leivo and Nikita Soshnikov.

The Leafs are one of the top teams in the NHL. Their defensive group isn’t anything to write home about, but they’ve quietly put together a pretty interesting forward group. It’s a nice mix of young talent and some older additions, such as Patrick Marleau. They play a skilled, speed-based game. They’ll be a tough out for the Flames.

Flames: Daniel Pribyl (knee) is on the injured reserve. Kris Versteeg missed last game with a lower-body injury.

Toronto: Nathan Horton (back) and Joffrey Lupul (hernia) are on the injured reserve, which in Toronto is located somewhere near Robidas Island.

These two teams exchanged shutout wins at home last year. The Flames beat the Leafs 3-0 in Calgary, but lost 4-0 in Toronto.

If you throw a rock on Twitter, chances are you’ll hit a Leafs-related account. Here are a few to keep an eye on:

The Flames are back at home, and about to start a new homestand. They host a Leafs team that has lost three of their last four games, but are full of young, talented players. It should be a fun one at the ‘Dome tonight.

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