FGD 60: Back home against Chicago (8pm MT, CBC)

After playing four games in six days away from home, the Calgary Flames (30-23-6, 66 points) are back at it tonight at the palatial Scotiabank Saddledome (1983-2024). They resume their home schedule as they host the Chicago Blackhawks (25-24-8, 54 points) in another game with potentially large post-season ramifications for both clubs.

The puck drops just after 8 p.m. MT on CBC and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. Dating back to last week’s game in Vancouver, it’s their fifth consecutive 8 p.m. MT start.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

David Rittich starts for the Flames, backed up by Cam Talbot. The extras are Alexander Yelesin and Buddy Robinson. Derek Ryan is the latest victim of the flu that’s running through the team, so he won’t play tonight. Instead, Sam Bennett will become a center on the third line.

The Flames played three rock-solid road games in Vancouver, San Jose and Anaheim – divided by a fairly flat performance against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. Now back home, they’re hoping to bring the same level of organization and compete to their ‘Dome performances.

The locals enter the evening three points back of division-leading Vancouver (who are idle tonight). The Flames are three points up on Winnipeg (also idle tonight), the best non-playoff team. Vegas and Edmonton (both tied with the Flames with 66 points) and Arizona (64 points) all play today, so the standings could look quite a bit different by the end of the evening.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Robin Lehner starts for Chicago, backed up by Corey Crawford. Their healthy extras are Nick Seeler and Matthew Highmore. Highmore may slot in, as Zack Smith got banged up in Vancouver.

Chicago heads into action tonight in an interesting situation. On one hand, they’re just six points back of the playoff cutline with three games in hand on the last wildcard team (Arizona). On the other hand, they have four teams between themselves and a playoff spot. They also haven’t won a game since Feb. 1 and haven’t won in regulation since Jan. 19. They have a hill to climb.

The Flames are without D Juuso Valimaki (ACL surgery), D Mark Giordano (hamstring) and D Travis Hamonic (upper body).

The Blackhawks are missing F Andrew Shaw (concussion), D Calvin de Haan (shoulder) and D Brent Seabrook (shoulder).

This is the third and final meeting between these two clubs this season. They split the two earlier games, with the road team winning each meeting.

Here are some key Twitter peeps to follow for tonight: