Folks, it’s no secret that Calgary is the city in Canada where nobody’s actually from here, but we collect cool people from across the country. A great deal of those cool people come from Toronto. Well, those people will be wearing blue at the Saddledome on Tuesday night, as the Calgary Flames (26-19-7, 59 points) host the Toronto Maple Leafs (31-19-2, 64 points), in the Buds’ one and only trip to Calgary of the season. Be prepared for duelling chants, a very boisterous crowd, and hopefully a pretty fun hockey game, too.
Tonight’s broadcast begins at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.
For a look from the other side, head over to The Leafs Nation!

The Flames

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:
Jonathan Huberdeau – Nazem Kadri – Joel Farabee
Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Yegor Sharangovich – Morgan Frost – Martin Pospisil
Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Rooney – Adam Klapka
Joel Hanley – Rasmus Andersson
Jake Bean – MacKenzie Weegar
Tyson Barrie – Brayden Pachal
Per Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg: Dustin Wolf is expected to start in net, backed up by Dan Vladar. The projected extras are Clark Bishop and Daniil Miromanov.
The Flames did something they’ve rarely done this season on Sunday night: they won the second half of a back-to-back. They’ve been playing pretty well lately, but as has become common this season, they’ve struggled to score a lot. The good news is that their power play seems to be on an upward trend. If they can keep things close at even strength – and they’ve gotten good enough goaltending this season that they’re usually able to do that – if their special teams get hot, it should allow them to grind out a few close games down the stretch.
Keep an eye on the new guys, Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. Monday was their first day off since being traded to the Flames on Thursday, so it’s been a bit of a whirlwind for them. Having a day to process, breathe and prepare for a big match-up with the Leafs could give them both a boost. (And they’ve both been pretty good thus far…)

The Maple Leafs

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:
Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty – John Tavares – William Nylander
Bobby McMann – Max Domi – Nick Robertson
Pontus Holmberg – David Kampf – Steven Lorentz
Jake McCabe – Chris Tanev
Morgan Rielly – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Simon Benoit – Conor Timmins
Joseph Woll starts for the Leafs, backed up by Matt Murray. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Mitch Marner are game-time decisions. (If Ekman-Larsson is out, Phillipe Myers would play; if Marner is out, Ryan Reaves would play. Dakota Mermis is their other healthy extra.
The Leafs are… the Leafs! Former Flames GM Brad Treliving runs their team now. They’re good. They have a lot of good players, including American goal machine Auston Matthews and beloved Calgarian William Nylander. Former Flames blueliner Chris Tanev plays there now. They’re a team that could either make a run for the Stanley Cup or get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, depending on who they draw in the opening round and how injured their team is at the time.
The Leafs are in town. It should be a fun evening of hockey at the ‘Dome.

Unavailable players

The Flames are without Anthony Mantha, Justin Kirkland, Connor Zary and Kevin Bahl.
The Maple Leafs are without Anthony Stolarz, Calle Jarnkrok, Connor Dewar and Jani Hakanpaa. (Though, as noted, there’s a chance Stolarz plays.)

The numbers

Flames
Maple Leafs
26
Wins
31
59 (.567)
Points (%)
64 (.615)
50.1%
(19th)
xGF%
49.9%
(21st)
22.1%
(15th)
PP%
22.5%
(13th)
72.7%
(28th)
PK%
80.3%
(13th)

Head to head

This is the first of two games between these teams this season. They’ll finish off their season series on St. Patrick’s Day in Toronto.
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