<p>It&#8217;s the second-last game of the 2020-21 regular season! The <strong>Calgary Flames (25-26-3, 53 points)</strong> face the <strong>Vancouver Canucks (22-28-4, 48 points)</strong> in a game that can marginally impact Calgary&#8217;s draft positioning!</p>
<p>The puck drops just after 2 p.m. MT and you can catch the action on Sportsnet West or on Sportsnet 960 The Fan. Have a late lunch or put the game on in the background as you pretend to work!</p>
<p><em><strong>For a view from the other side, visit <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/">the fine folks over at Canucks Army</a>!<br />
</strong></em></p>
<p></p>
<h2><strong>The Flames</strong></h2>
<p>Projected lines, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/calgary-flames/line-combinations/">via Daily Faceoff</a>:</p>
<p>Gaudreau &#8211; Lindholm &#8211; Tkachuk<br />
Dube &#8211; Backlund &#8211; Mangaipane<br />
Lucic &#8211; Ryan &#8211; Leivo<br />
Nordstrom &#8211; Gawdin &#8211; Ritchie</p>
<p>Giordano &#8211; Tanev<br />
Nesterov &#8211; Andersson<br />
Valimaki &#8211; Stone</p>
<p>There&#8217;s no morning skate, so much of the lineup is an educated guess  &#8211; we&#8217;ll update as more info becomes available. The starting goalie is probably either Jacob Markstrom or Louis Domingue. The active extras are Byron Froese, Buddy Robinson and Oliver Kylington. We&#8217;ll see which new faces get in tonight; Adam Ruzicka, Connor Mackey and Dominik Simon were brought up on emergency recalls on Sunday but returned to the AHL/taxi roster on Monday.</p>
<p>The Flames have been below Bettman .500 since losing to Ottawa on Mar. 24. But they can get back to that level for the first time in 20 games with a victory tonight. At this point, all they have to shoot for are moral victories, and trying to lay a foundation for training camp in the fall.</p>
<h2><strong>The Canucks<br />
</strong></h2>
<p>Projected lines, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/vancouver-canucks/line-combinations/">via Daily Faceoff</a>:</p>
<p>Hoglander &#8211; Miller &#8211; Boeser<br />
Pearson &#8211; Horvat &#8211; Highmore<br />
Michaelis &#8211; Graovac &#8211; Hawryluk<br />
Vesey &#8211; Boyd &#8211; Lockwood</p>
<p>Edler &#8211; Hamonic<br />
Hughes &#8211; Schmidt<br />
Rathbone &#8211; Myers</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Will Lockwood will make his NHL debut today for the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a>. Demko starts in goal. MacEwen is under the weather and won’t play. Gadjovich is also out. Michaelis draws back in. Rathbone and Myers draw back in for Juolevi and Chatfield. </p>
<p>1pm puck drop on <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sportsnet650</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) <a href="https://twitter.com/BatchHockey/status/1394708051131703298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Thatcher Demko starts for the Canucks, backed up by Arturs Silovs.</p>
<p>This is Vancouver&#8217;s third game in four days, and their 11th game over the month of May due to a COVID-19 outbreak rearranging their schedule and demolishing their roster. That&#8217;s a lot of hockey and results aside &#8211; they&#8217;re 3-6-1 in their first 10 May games &#8211; respect to the Canucks for surviving it. Including their Apr. 18 return against Toronto, the Canucks are 6-10-1 after their outbreak.</p>
<h2><strong>The numbers</strong></h2>
<table style="height: 154px" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px"></td>
<td style="height: 22px">Calgary</td>
<td style="height: 22px">Vancouver</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Wins</td>
<td style="height: 22px">25</td>
<td style="height: 22px">22</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Points (%)</td>
<td style="height: 22px">53 (.491)</td>
<td style="height: 22px">48 (.444)</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Adjusted Corsi For</td>
<td style="height: 22px">53.0%</td>
<td style="height: 22px">45.6%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Expected Goals</td>
<td style="height: 22px">53.3%</td>
<td style="height: 22px">45.3%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Power Play</td>
<td style="height: 22px">18.8%</td>
<td style="height: 22px">17.7%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Penalty Kill</td>
<td style="height: 22px">79.9%</td>
<td style="height: 22px">79.2%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2><strong>Talkin&#8217; lottery<br />
</strong></h2>
<p>The Flames cannot finish lower than Buffalo, Anaheim, New Jersey, Detroit, Columbus, San Jose, Los Angeles, Ottawa or Vancouver. They cannot finish higher than, among non-playoff teams, Philadelphia, Dallas or the NY Rangers.</p>
<p>As of right now, the Flames will head into the draft lottery with the 11th-best odds at a lottery pick. With a win, they&#8217;ll pass Arizona and Chicago and have the 13th-best odds.</p>
<h2><strong>Unfit to play report</strong></h2>
<p>The Flames are without Noah Hanifin and Sean Monahan.</p>
<p>The Canucks are without Micheal Ferland, Justin Bailey, Elias Pettersson, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel and Brandon Sutter (Darryl&#8217;s nephew).</p>
<h2><strong>When last we met</strong></h2>
<p>The Flames are 6-2-1 against Vancouver so far this season. After tonight, they meet tomorrow to close out the season.<em><br />
</em></p>
<h2><strong>Know thy enemy</strong></h2>
<p>Your recommended Twitter follows for tonight&#8217;s contest:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy">Canucks Army</a></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/ThomasDrance">Thomas Drance</a></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/QuadreIli">David Quadrelli</a></li>
</ul>

It's the second-last game of the 2020-21 regular season! The <strong>Calgary Flames (25-26-3, 53 points)</strong> face the <strong>Vancouver Canucks (22-28-4, 48 points)</strong> in a game that can marginally impact Calgary's draft positioning!

The puck drops just after 2 p.m. MT and you can catch the action on Sportsnet West or on Sportsnet 960 The Fan. Have a late lunch or put the game on in the background as you pretend to work!

<em><strong>For a view from the other side, visit <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/">the fine folks over at Canucks Army</a>!
</strong></em>


<h2><strong>The Flames</strong></h2>
Projected lines, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/calgary-flames/line-combinations/">via Daily Faceoff</a>:

Gaudreau - Lindholm - Tkachuk
Dube - Backlund - Mangaipane
Lucic - Ryan - Leivo
Nordstrom - Gawdin - Ritchie

Giordano - Tanev
Nesterov - Andersson
Valimaki - Stone

There's no morning skate, so much of the lineup is an educated guess  - we'll update as more info becomes available. The starting goalie is probably either Jacob Markstrom or Louis Domingue. The active extras are Byron Froese, Buddy Robinson and Oliver Kylington. We'll see which new faces get in tonight; Adam Ruzicka, Connor Mackey and Dominik Simon were brought up on emergency recalls on Sunday but returned to the AHL/taxi roster on Monday.

The Flames have been below Bettman .500 since losing to Ottawa on Mar. 24. But they can get back to that level for the first time in 20 games with a victory tonight. At this point, all they have to shoot for are moral victories, and trying to lay a foundation for training camp in the fall.
<h2><strong>The Canucks
</strong></h2>
Projected lines, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/vancouver-canucks/line-combinations/">via Daily Faceoff</a>:

Hoglander - Miller - Boeser
Pearson - Horvat - Highmore
Michaelis - Graovac - Hawryluk
Vesey - Boyd - Lockwood

Edler - Hamonic
Hughes - Schmidt
Rathbone - Myers

https://twitter.com/BatchHockey/status/1394708051131703298

Thatcher Demko starts for the Canucks, backed up by Arturs Silovs.

This is Vancouver's third game in four days, and their 11th game over the month of May due to a COVID-19 outbreak rearranging their schedule and demolishing their roster. That's a lot of hockey and results aside - they're 3-6-1 in their first 10 May games - respect to the Canucks for surviving it. Including their Apr. 18 return against Toronto, the Canucks are 6-10-1 after their outbreak.
<h2><strong>The numbers</strong></h2>
<table style="height: 154px" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px"></td>
<td style="height: 22px">Calgary</td>
<td style="height: 22px">Vancouver</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Wins</td>
<td style="height: 22px">25</td>
<td style="height: 22px">22</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Points (%)</td>
<td style="height: 22px">53 (.491)</td>
<td style="height: 22px">48 (.444)</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Adjusted Corsi For</td>
<td style="height: 22px">53.0%</td>
<td style="height: 22px">45.6%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Expected Goals</td>
<td style="height: 22px">53.3%</td>
<td style="height: 22px">45.3%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Power Play</td>
<td style="height: 22px">18.8%</td>
<td style="height: 22px">17.7%</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px">
<td style="height: 22px">Penalty Kill</td>
<td style="height: 22px">79.9%</td>
<td style="height: 22px">79.2%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2><strong>Talkin' lottery
</strong></h2>
The Flames cannot finish lower than Buffalo, Anaheim, New Jersey, Detroit, Columbus, San Jose, Los Angeles, Ottawa or Vancouver. They cannot finish higher than, among non-playoff teams, Philadelphia, Dallas or the NY Rangers.

As of right now, the Flames will head into the draft lottery with the 11th-best odds at a lottery pick. With a win, they'll pass Arizona and Chicago and have the 13th-best odds.
<h2><strong>Unfit to play report</strong></h2>
The Flames are without Noah Hanifin and Sean Monahan.

The Canucks are without Micheal Ferland, Justin Bailey, Elias Pettersson, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel and Brandon Sutter (Darryl's nephew).
<h2><strong>When last we met</strong></h2>
The Flames are 6-2-1 against Vancouver so far this season. After tonight, they meet tomorrow to close out the season.<em>
</em>
<h2><strong>Know thy enemy</strong></h2>
Your recommended Twitter follows for tonight's contest:
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy">Canucks Army</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://twitter.com/ThomasDrance">Thomas Drance</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://twitter.com/QuadreIli">David Quadrelli</a></li>
</ul>

FGD 55: A matinee in Vancouver (2pm MT, SN West)

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