FGD 55: Back-to-back on Broadway (5pm MT, SN West)

After a victory in the scenic swamp lands of New Jersey last night, the Calgary Flames (28-18-8) are in the Big Apple tonight! The Flames continue their road trip when they play the New York Rangers (25-24-3) in the only National Hockey League building older than the Scotiabank Saddledome, Madison Square Garden. Can the visitors keep their momentum (and winning streak) alive and guarantee a .500 record on their lengthy road trip?

The game starts just after 5 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines, courtesy of Daily Faceoff:

Mike Smith starts for the 45th time this season. He’s 22-15-6 with a 2.50 goals against average and .922 save percentage. He’s backed up by David Rittich. Curtis Lazar comes in to replace the injured Troy Brouwer, while Glen Gulutzan indicated that there’s one more change to the lineup. The healthy extras are Matt Bartkowski and Marek Hrivik, so potentially one of them rotates in tonight.

The Flames’ top line is feeling it lately. On their three game winning streak they’ve produced eight even strength goals and three game-winners. Micheal Ferland isn’t getting on the scoresheet a ton but he’s been noticeable, while Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan have been dynamite.

On the other hand? The other three lines haven’t generated a ton of offense for the Flames lately. While ultimately this team will probably only go as far as the top line and goaltending can carry them, they’ll need some help from throughout their lineup if they have any hope of doing anything special this season.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

It sounds like Henrik Lundqvist starts for the Rangers. He’s 21-17-4 with a 2.77 goals against average and .917 save percentage. He’s backed up by Atlanta Thrashers great Ondrej Pavelec, who’s still in the NHL. The Rangers called up Neal Pionk to replace the waived (and demoted) Brendan Smith, and he’ll make his NHL debut tonight.

The Rangers are not particularly good this season. They just got thumped by Boston. They followed that up with a letter to their fans effectively announcing they’re going to embark upon a rebuild as they approach the trade deadline. It’s been tough times for the Broadway Blueshirts this season.

Update: Flames 2013 pick John Gilmour has been called up and will debut tonight in place of Ryan McDonagh, who’s nursing an injury. Ondrej Pavelec will start for the Rangers because, well, why not?

Flames: Daniel Pribyl (knee) and Kris Versteeg (hip) are on the injured reserve. Troy Brouwer (facial fracture) is hurt but on the active roster.

NY Rangers: Chris Kreider (blood clot), Kevin Shattenkirk (knee) and Mark Staal (upper-body) are on the injured reserve. Pavel Buchnevich (concussion) and Jimmy Vesey (concussion) are injured but remain on the active roster.

These teams haven’t played each other yet this season. The Rangers won both meetings between these clubs last season. They’ll meet again on Mar. 2 in Calgary.

Here are some Rangers tweeters:

It’s the third game of a three game road trip, and another chance for the Flames to bank points against Eastern Conference opponents that could be invaluable come the end of the season.