The Calgary Flames (6-5-1, 13 points) are hitting the road! After splitting a pair of home dates to begin November, the Flames are headed east! They begin a three game eastern swing on Tuesday night when they visit the Montreal Canadiens (4-7-1, 9 points) in Bell Centre. The Flames are looking to regain traction after a strong start (and a subsequent skid). Can they get back into the win column?

Tonight’s broadcast begins at 5 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. If you’re looking for a place to hang out and watch the game, head on down to Richmond’s Pub in Glamorgan, and stick around for a live After Burner with Boomer and Pinder!

Here are projected lines via Sportsnet’s Derek Wills:

Jonathan Huberdeau – Yegor Sharangovich – Anthony Mantha
Connor Zary – Nazem Kadri – Andrei Kuzmenko
Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Ryan Lomberg – Justin Kirkland – Martin Pospisil

Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar – Daniil Miromanov
Tyson Barrie – Brayden Pachal

We’re expecting Dustin Wolf to start in net, backed up by Dan Vladar. The projected extra skaters are Kevin Rooney, Jake Bean and Joel Hanley. After receiving criticism for an ill-timed penalty that led to the Oilers’ game-winner on Sunday, Martin Pospisil is dropped to the fourth line. And Justin Kirkland returns to action for his 10th game this season, which will make him waiver eligible following the game.

Through a dozen games, the Flames seem to have a handle on how they need to play to be successful. In short: they need to skate. When the Flames move their feet and play with speed, they’re a tough team to play. However, they lack game-stealing talent right now, so they need to rely on their team game to have success, and it’s probably not realistic to expect 18 skaters to all be moving their feet and playing in sync at all times. We’ve seen a few Flames forwards get dropped down the rotation in recent games because head coach Ryan Huska hasn’t liked their pace or skating, most recently Connor Zary on Sunday.

Can the Flames maintain their pace, composure and execution? If they can play their game, they basically force their opponents to find another gear if they want to beat them.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Kirby Dach
Alex Newhook – Jake Evans – Juraj Slafkovsky
Brendan Gallagher – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson
Emil Heineman – Oliver Kapanen – Joel Armia

Mike Matheson – Kaiden Guhle
Lane Hutson – David Savard
Arber Xhekaj – Jayden Struble

We’re projecting Samuel Montembeault to start in goal, backed up by Cayden Primeau. The projected extras are Justin Barron and Michael Pezzetta.

Hey, remember Emil Heineman? He was drafted by Florida in 2020, then traded to the Flames by the Panthers in the Sam Bennett trade. Then the Flames traded him to Montreal as part of the Tyler Toffoli trade. Anyway, he earned himself a roster spot on the Habs, and he’s playing his first-ever game against the Flames.

The Habs aren’t exactly a possession beast these days, but they’re young, fast, and are effective on both sides of special teams. The Flames will need to be on their game if they want to earn two points.

The Flames are healthy.

The Canadiens are without Carey Price, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Patrik Laine.

This is the first of two games between these two teams in 2024-25. They meet again on Mar. 8, the day after the trade deadline, in Calgary.