The Calgary Flames (5-6-0) have lost four of their last five games, falling below the .500 mark after a pretty solid start. Tonight they try to get out of arrears, points-wise, when they host the Washington Capitals (5-5-1). The Capitals beat Edmonton last night and are the third consecutive team that the Flames will host after playing in a different city the night before. The Flames haven’t beaten any of these teams, and hopefully they don’t spoil another prime opportunity for early-season points.

The puck drops at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet 960 The Fan and Sportsnet 360.

Here are tonight’s projected lines, courtesy of Daily Faceoff:

To nobody’s surprise, Mike Smith is back in the net for his 11th start of the year! He’s 5-5-0 with a 2.44 goals against average and .927 save percentage. He’s been Calgary’s best player – by game score and by simply being impressive to the eyes with his performances – and he’s kept them in a lot of games they had no business being in. (He might have to do so again against a high-powered Capitals offense tonight.)

Here’s what we do know lineup-wise: Matt Bartkowski is out, Jaromir Jagr is still not ready, Mark Jankowski is still here, and there are a few injuries in the forward ranks that, according to head coach Glen Gulutzan, could necessitate changes. The defensive pairings are probably set, but there’s a possibility that one (or both) of Curtis Lazar or Freddie Hamilton could slide into the bottom six.

The Flames have allowed multiple (e.g, two) power play goals against in each of their last three games. If they allow many, or even any, against Washington they’ll probably lose.

Lines from Washington’s game last night via Daily Faceoff:

Since Braden Holtby started last night, I’d expect to see Philipp Grubauer in net tonight. Washington’s scratches last night were Brett Connolly, Aaron Ness and Nathan Walker, the NHL’s first Australian. Connolly’s dealing with some injuries, but there’s a possibility that one of the other gentlemen may rotate in tonight.

Edmonton got out to a 2-0 first period lead and gave Washington zero power plays. It didn’t matter, as the Capitals scored five unanswered goals to capture victory at Rogers Place. The Capitals are a dangerous team, but their skill at even strength may force the Flames to simplify their game a bit – it’s hard to get too fancy in the offensive zone when you’re worried about a turnover and an Alexander Ovechkin-led breakout the other way.

Flames: Daniel Pribyl (knee) and Jaromir Jagr (lower-body) are on the injured reserve.

Washington: Matt Niskanen (hand), John Albert (undisclosed) and Andre Burakovsky (thumb) are on the injured reserve.

The Flames lost to Washington twice last year by scores of 3-1 and 4-2. The games were decent, but the Flames were the second-best team in both of them (easily).

Here are some accounts that tweet about the Capitals:

The Flames can nudge themselves back to the .500 mark with a victory over a team that’s all tuckered out from beating up on Edmonton last night. (And also traveling, I guess.) But they’ll need to play a more complete game than they have played in recent weeks.