FGD 59: An afternoon stroll with the Coyotes (2pm MT, SN West)

After a road trip that netted them half of the possible points, the Calgary Flames (35-16-7, 77 points) return home looking to inch themselves closer to a Western Conference playoff berth. They host the Arizona Coyotes (26-27-5, 57 points) in a rare holiday afternoon game. The Coyotes just toppled the powerhouse Toronto Maple Leafs; can the Flames keep their home-ice momentum rolling?

The puck drops slightly after 2 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan!

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Mike Smith starts for the Flames, backed up by David Rittich. Curtis Lazar is a healthy scratch. James Neal misses his second game in a row with an unspecified lower body injury.

Smith is starting for the third time in a row for the first time since the end of October. It’s his 28th start of the season (Rittich has started 31 times). It’s definitely too early to start touting him as the top guy once again, but the Flames are at a point where they want to keep momentum rolling along: whoever wins them games is the guy that’s going to be starting.

The Flames are back at home where they have last change and a 17-5-5 record. They’ve gotten some nice contributions recently from basically every unit except for their first line, but having last change at home means they can get the Gaudreau line more favourable match-ups and potentially get them going offensively again.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Coming off a shutout on Saturday night, Darcy Kuemper starts for Arizona and is backed up by Calvin Pickard. Michael Bunting and Jordan Oesterle are the projected scratches.

The Coyotes are a sub-.500 team, but they’re only three points out of a wildcard spot because the Western Conference is the true embodiment of chaos. This is the first half of a back-to-back set, as they’re in Edmonton tomorrow night to play the local hockey team from that city.

The Flames are without Michael Stone and James Neal.

The Coyotes are without Christian Dvorak, Jason Demers, Antti Raanta, Michael Grabner, Nick Schmaltz, Kyle Capobianco and Richard Panik.

This is part three of their four-game season series. The Flames won the first two games handily, with a combined 13-2 margin of victory. They’ll meet once more in Glendale in early March to close things out.

Your Coyotes Twitter follows for tonight:

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