Flames Game Day 59: That’s it, back to Denver (6pm MT, SN West/One)

Eight days after an instant classic game in Denver, the Calgary Flames (36-15-7, 79 points) are back in Colorado for an important rematch against the top team in the Central Division, the Colorado Avalanche (41-13-5, 87 points). The Flames are playing their second game in as many nights, while Colorado’s been idle since Thursday. Can the Flames keep their superb run of play going? Or will they get buried by the rested Avalanche?

The puck drops just after 6 p.m. MT. Catch all the action on Sportsnet One and West or Sportsnet 960 The Fan!

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

@Johnny Gaudreau – @Elias Lindholm – @Matthew Tkachuk
@Blake Coleman – @Mikael Backlund – @Trevor Lewis
@Andrew Mangiapane – @Dillon Dube – @Tyler Toffoli
@Milan Lucic – @Sean Monahan – @Brett Ritchie

@Noah Hanifin – @Rasmus Andersson
@Michael Stone – @Chris Tanev
@Nikita Zadorov – @Erik Gudbranson

@Daniel Vladar likely starts for the Flames, backed up by @Jacob Markstrom (who got a shutout last night against Detroit). Yesterday’s extras were @Brad Richardson and @Brett Ritchie, while @Oliver Kylington missed the game with a lower body injury and @Connor Mackey has been recalled from Stockton as an insurance policy. There’s no morning skate, so we’ll see what happens during warm-up.

Since their last game in Denver, the Flames have won three of four (with the lone loss coming against Washington). Dating back to their return from their COVID Christmas on Dec. 30, the Flames are 21-8-1. Since their uninspired mid-January loss to Ottawa, they’re 19-4-1.
This may just be what the Flames are this season: pretty, pretty good.

The Flames ran the show offensively against Detroit and did everything but bury a ton of chances at five-on-five. They’ll hope to be just as sharp against Colorado.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

@Valeri Nichuskhin – @Nathan MacKinnon – @Mikko Rantanen
@Alex Newhook – @Nazem Kadri – @Andre Burakovsky
@Tyson Jost – @JT Compher – @Logan O’Connor
@Darren Helm – @Nicolas Aube-Kubel

@Devon Toews – @Cale Makar
@Ryan Murray – @Erik Johnson
@Jack Johnson – @Kurtis MacDermid

We’re expecting @Darcy Kuemper to start, backed up by @Pavel Francouz. @Bowen Byram skated on Saturday in a non-contact jersey and he’s on the active roster, but who knows if he plays. We’ll have updates on Colorado’s lineup after their morning skate.

The Avalanche have been off since losing to Carolina by a 2-0 score on Thursday night. Since their loss to the Flames eight days ago, they’ve lost two of their past three games. Despite their skid, they’re a really good hockey club, though their depth is being challenged by cap issues and injuries to key players like Byram, @Gabriel Landeskog and @Samuel Girard. They seem primed for a big deadline addition (and some time utilizing LTIR for cap relief).

The Flames were without Oliver Kylington last night.

The Avalanche are without Bowen Byram, Samuel Girard and Gabriel Landeskog.

These two teams played eight days ago, also in Denver. The game was freakin’ awesome. The Flames gutted out a 4-3 victory in overtime.

Your recommended Twitter follows for tonight’s contest:

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