In three of their first four games of 2019-20, the Calgary Flames (2-1-1, 5 points) have been gamblers, spotting their opponents early leads. But tonight they head to the Las Vegas Strip to face off against the Vegas Golden Knights (2-2-0, 4 points) at T-Mobile Arena, a building where they’ve lost all four of their visits. Can the Flames finally beat the house? Or will they go bust, yet again, in Vegas?
The puck drops at 8 p.m. MT on City TV and Sportsnet One (with Rick Ball and two-time Olympic gold medalist Cassie Campbell-Pascall) and Sportsnet 960 The Fan (with Derek Wills and Peter Loubardias).

The Flames

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Gaudreau – Monahan – Lindholm
Tkachuk – Backlund – Mangiapane
Lucic – Ryan – Bennett
Rieder – Jankowski – Frolik
Giordano – Andersson
Hanifin – Hamonic
Brodie – Stone
David Rittich starts for the fifth game in a row, backed up by Cam Talbot (who will likely make his regular season Flames debut tomorrow in San Jose). The expected scratches are Oliver Kylington and Austin Czarnik. No changes are expected from a group that had a come-from-behind win over Dallas.
Fun fact from our friends at Hockey Reference: the Flames have earned points in every building they’ve played a regular season game in except for two: the Springfield Civic Center (where the Atlanta Flames lost to the Hartford Whalers in 1979) and T-Mobile Arena (where they’ve lost four times by a combined 15-4 score). You could say that they’re due.

The Golden Knights

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Marchessault – Karlsson – Smith
Pacioretty – Stastny – Stone
Glass – Eakin – Zykov
Carrier – Nosek – Reaves
McNabb – Theodore
Merrill – Holden
Hague – Engelland
Marc-Andre Fleury starts, backed up by Oscar Dansk – Malcolm Subban was hurt last game. The expected extras are Brandon Pirri and Jake Bischoff, while Cody Eakin returns from injury. The Golden Knights have been wildly uneven so far and are hoping for some consistency.
If it happens tonight, this would be just the seventh time that Mark and Michael Stone play each other in a regular season game.

The Numbers

Flames
Golden Knights
Wins
2
1
Points
5
2
Adjusted Corsi
47.7%
50.8%
Power Play
25.0%
21.4%
Penalty Kill
77.8%
93.3%

Injury Report

The Flames are without D Juuso Valimaki (ACL surgery).
The Golden Knights are missing G Malcolm Subban (lower body), D Nate Schmidt (lower body) and F Alex Tuch (upper body).

When Last We Met

These teams split their four meetings last season. Calgary won both games in Calgary. Vegas won both games in Vegas. Their last meeting was Mar. 10, a 6-3 win in the Saddledome by the Flames.

Know Thy Enemy

Here are some key Twitter peeps to follow for tonight’s opener: