FGD 65: A playoff-style clash in Nashville (6pm MT, SN West)

Photo credit:Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports

4 years ago

The Western Conference’s two prospective wildcard playoff teams collide tonight in Nashville with two huge points on the line. The Calgary Flames (33-25-6, 72 points) visit the Nashville Predators (31-23-8, 70 points). The Predators have two games in hand on Calgary, but the Flames can get some crucial breathing room with a victory.

The puck drops just after 6 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

The Flames

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Gaudreau – Monahan – Lindholm
Mangiapane – Backlund – Tkachuk
Lucic – Ryan – Dube
Bennett – Jankowski – Rieder

Giordano – Brodie
Hanifin – Andersson
Forbort – Gustafsson

David Rittich starts for the Flames, backed up by Cam Talbot. The extras are Michael Stone, Oliver Kylington and Zac Rinaldo. It sure sounds like Mark Giordano will return this time, but for the time being let’s treat him as a game time decision until he actually plays.

The Flames have played pretty good hockey lately, with six wins over their past 10 games dating back to their last meeting with Nashville. Their wins? Vancouver, San Jose, Anaheim (twice), Detroit and Boston. You could argue that their wins over Vancouver and Boston were the template for how they need to play down the stretch to be successful.

The Flames enter play with a game in hand on Winnipeg and two in hand on Arizona, both outside of the wildcard spots with 70 points. They can make life much easier on themselves with two points to put some distance between them and the best non-playoff teams.

The Predators

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Jarnkrok – Duchene – Arvidsson
Forsberg – Turris – Granlund
Grimaldi – Bonino – Smith
Blackwell – Johansen – Sissons

Josi – Ellis
Tinordi – Ekholm
Hamhuis – Fabbro

Juuse Saros starts for Nashville, backed up by Pekka Rinne. The projected extras are Korbinian Holzer, Yannick Weber and Austin Wagner.

Nashville’s been on a roll lately. They’re 6-3-1 dating back to their win in Calgary, and while they’re not the powerhouse they once were, they’re a team with the potential to cause a lot of headaches down the stretch (and potentially in the playoffs).

The Numbers

	Flames	Predators
Wins	33	31
Points	72	70
Adjusted Corsi	50.2%	51.2%
Power Play	20.1%	16.7%
Penalty Kill	82.4%	74.1%

Injury Report

The Flames are without D Juuso Valimaki (ACL surgery), D Mark Giordano (hamstring) and D Travis Hamonic (upper body). Giordano could return tonight, though. Yes, just like on Tuesday night.

The Predators are healthy.

When Last We Met

This is the final game of this season series. The Flames won 6-5 in overtime back on Halloween – Matthew Tkachuk scored That Goal – and the Preds grinded out a 3-2 win in February.

Know Thy Enemy

Here are some key Twitter peeps to follow for tonight:

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