It’s the annual dad’s trip for the Calgary Flames (21-17-5, 47 points), and the Flames players have fathers and other male mentors in tow for a couple road games. First, the Flames hit the Twin Cities to face the Minnesota Wild (20-17-5, 45 points), who are playing their second game in as many days.

The action begins just after 5 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West (and the other regional channels) and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

David Rittich starts for the Flames, backed up by Cam Talbot. Today’s projected scratches are Oliver Kylington and Zac Rinaldo.

The Flames had a big home stand after their emotional win over the dastardly Edmonton Oilers after Christmas. They lost two of three, punctuated by some really rough first periods (where they allowed six goals in two losses and another two goals in a win). The Flames need to play more structured hockey, as interim coach Geoff Ward frequently states: structure allows talent to shine through.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Alex Stalock starts for Minnesota, backed up by Devan Dubnyk (who played yesterday). Yesterday’s extras were Nick Seeler and Louie Belpedio, so one or both could slot in given the back-to-back situation.

The Wild are playing their second game in two days – albeit without travel – as they hosted Winnipeg on Saturday afternoon. They got down early and then turned on the, uh, jets, putting 20 shots on net in the third period and overtime to win 3-2. They’re not a perfect team, but they’re good enough to find ways to win against good teams.

The Flames are without D Juuso Valimaki (ACL surgery).

The Wild are missing F Jason Zucker (leg), D Greg Pateryn (hernia) and F Mason Shaw (knee).

The Wild shut out Calgary right before Christmas by a 3-0 score. They’ll close out their season series on Thursday at the Saddledome.

Here are some key Twitter peeps to follow for tonight: