The Calgary Flames (35-31-10) are mathematically alive in the Western Conference playoff race, but only barely. Tonight they finish off their last “real” road trip of the 2017-18 season against the Los Angeles Kings (41-28-7) – they have a one-shot road game in Winnipeg, but that’s it. The Kings are out of a playoff spot but only tenuously, and they need some points to cement themselves. The Flames are a great team to play these days if you need points because they’ve given their opponents some in virtually every recent game they’ve played.

The puck drops just after 8:30 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. It’s not part of a double-header or anything, it’s just a random 8:30 start to kick off the week.

Projected lines, courtesy of Daily Faceoff:

Mike Smith starts for the Flames, as it seems they’re going to alternate goaltenders until the season ends or somebody starts winning games. He’s backed up by Jon Gillies, who’s been recalled in a swap that sent David Rittich back to the AHL. The projected healthy scratch is Matt Bartkowski. The Flames are without Matthew Tkachuk and TJ Brodie on a day-to-day basis due to upper-body injuries, while Sean Monahan and Kris Versteeg are done for the season, and Johnny Gaudreau went back east for personal reasons. As a result, the Flames are trotting out what amounts to four bottom-six lines.

The Flames have won three games in March. Those wins were against Buffalo, Ottawa and Edmonton, three very bad hockey teams. They’ve otherwise been a team that out-shoots their opposition but finds ways to lose. They’ve lost five straight. They’re going to be missing three of their four best forwards and playing a team that’s in the playoff hunt. This could get ugly.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Jonathan Quick starts for the Kings. He’s backed up by Jack Campbell. The projected healthy scratches are Paul LaDue, Kevin Gravel and Torrey Mitchell.

The Kings are tied with St. Louis for the final wild-card spot and are on the outside on tiebreakers. They’ve had a weird playoff push; their last five games have been shutout loss, overtime win, overtime loss, one-sided regulation win, and a close loss to the Oilers. They’re defined this season by their maddening inconsistency, and it could come back to haunt them if they don’t make the playoffs.

Keep an eye on Anze Kopitar, who’s been superb in the second half of the season.

Flames: Daniel Pribyl (knee) and Marek Hrivik (upper-body) are on the injured reserve. Kris Versteeg (hip) and Sean Monahan (various) are done for the season. Matthew Tkachuk (suspected concussion) and TJ Brodie (upper-body) are both out but remain on the active roster.

Los Angeles: Trevor Lewis (undisclosed) is hurt but on the active roster.

This is the fourth and final game between these teams this season. The Flames have won two out of three games and gotten points out of every single one. The three meetings have been a 4-3 regulation win, a 4-3 overtime win, and a 2-1 overtime loss.

These nice folks will tweet about the Kings tonight:

There are only five games remaining after tonight, four of which will be home games. I’m not sure if that helps or hurts the Flames’ chances.