FGD 67: Finishing strong in Florida (2pm MT, SN West)

Just 24 hours after a hard-fought loss in Tampa, the Calgary Flames (33-26-7, 73 points) are finishing off their five game road trip with their second afternoon game in as many days. They face the Florida Panthers (33-25-7, 73 points), a team that also played an afternoon game yesterday and is also trying to stay in the playoff pack.

The action starts around 2 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Cam Talbot is expected to start for the Flames, backed up by David Rittich (who started yesterday). Yesterday’s extras were Michael Stone, Oliver Kylington and Zac Rinaldo.

The Flames have played four road games on this trip and have gone 2-1-1, playing four solid (if occasionally flawed) games. One more strong effort will send them home with seven of a possible 10 points. A loss sends them home at .500 on the trip and likely puts a bit of a sour taste in everyone’s mouths.

Do the Flames have enough left in the tank to tame the Panthers?

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Since Sergei Bobrovsky started against Chicago on Saturday, most likely Sam Montembeault starts today. (Update: Nope, Bobrovsky is going back to back.) Yesterday’s scratches were Josh Brown and Aleksi Saarela, so potentially one of them slots in.

The Panthers managed to grab a sorely-needed point on Saturday, rallying back to tie Chicago in the final minutes of the third period. Sure, they lost, but it was a gusty win by a team that’s had challenges staying healthy and really executing their game plan consistently.

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

The Panthers are missing G Chris Driedger (undisclosed), F Dryden Hunt (lower body) and F Brian Boyle (upper body).

This is the final meeting between these two teams this season. The Flames won a wild 6-5 shootout back in October in Calgary.

Here are some key Twitter peeps to follow for today: