FGD 36: Measuring sticks (7pm MT, SN West)

The Calgary Flames (22-11-2, 46 points) are a pretty good hockey team. We’re not quite sure how good, but they’ve taken a step from last season. The veil of mystery surrounding the Flames will be lifted somewhat as they face a stiff test in the form of an old rival, and the best team in the National Hockey League, the Tampa Bay Lightning (26-7-2, 54 points). Just how good are the Flames? We might get some clues tonight.

The action begins at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

David Rittich starts for the Flames, backed up by Mike Smith. The projected scratches are Dalton Prout, Austin Czarnik and Buddy Robinson. Sam Bennett and James Neal will return to the lineup after missing the Dallas game, though that’s pending approval from the team’s medical staff.

Despite their 2-0 loss in Dallas on Tuesday evening, the Flames are among the top teams in the Western Conference. They’re tied with Winnipeg and Nashville for the top spot in the West and they lead the Pacific Division by three points.

While the Flames have been good, they haven’t been perfect. They’ve been a bit sloppy defensively. But they’re facing a really deep, dangerous team, and they’re going to have to tighten things up to survive. We’re going to learn a lot about the team’s makeup by how they approach this game.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Louis Domingue starts for Tampa Bay, backed up by Andrei Vasilevskiy. The projected scratches are Slater Koekkoek, Braydon Coburn and Danick Martel.

Tampa Bay has a strong, deep, weirdly consistent team. The last time the Lightning lost in regulation was Nov. 27. They’re in the midst of a 10 game point streak. They have two really terrifying forward lines and a third line that’s pretty impressive in its own right.

The Flames are without Juuso Valimaki, Michael Frolik and Michael Stone.

The Lightning are without Mathieu Joseph.

This is the first of two games between these two teams. They’ll meet one more time in Tampa Bay in February.

Your Lightning Twitter follows for tonight:

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