Since the beginning of November, the Calgary Flames (12-6-3, 27 points) have been rolling. After sweeping a four game homestand, they’ll try to keep the good vibes going when they hit the road for a four game trip, beginning with Monday’s game against the Ottawa Senators (8-11-1, 17 points). The Flames have found ways to win this season, while the Senators have found ways to lose. Will both trends continue?

Today’s broadcast begins at 5:30 p.m. MT on Amazon Prime and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines via Sportsnet’s Derek Wills:

Jonathan Huberdeau – Connor Zary – Blake Coleman
Martin Pospisil – Nazem Kadri – Andrei Kuzmenko
Yegor Sharangovich – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Rooney – Justin Kirkland

Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar – Daniil Miromanov
Joel Hanley – Brayden Pachal

We’re projecting Dustin Wolf to start in net, backed up by Dan Vladar. The projected extras are Jake Bean, Tyson Barrie and Adam Klapka.

The Flames are playing well and sitting near the top of the Pacific Division standings through 21 games, and we’re as surprised as you are. The thing the Flames do have is a system that everyone seems to have bought into, and they’re a team that doesn’t get too loose during the course of a game. They keep wearing down their opponents and they’ve had success with late-game goals and comebacks as a result. That combined with structured defensive play and strong goaltending have them trending in the right direction.

So far in November, the Flames are 6-2-2.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Brady Tkachuk – Shane Pinto – Ridly Greig
Claude Giroux – Tim Stützle – Drake Batherson
David Perron – Josh Norris – Michael Amadio
Nick Cousins – Adam Gaudette – Zack Ostapchuk

Jake Sanderson – Jacob Bernard-Docker
Thomas Chabot – Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven – Travis Hamonic

We’re projecting Anton Forsberg to start in goal, backed up by Linus Ullmark. Zack MacEwen was waived on Sunday and Zack Ostapchuk called up in his place, while Artem Zub is expected to be out awhile after blocking a shot, so Jacob Bernard-Docker rotates back in. We’re not 100% sure on pairings, so keep your eyes peeled around warm-up time if that matters to you.

Are the Senators bad? No. If you look at their underlyings, they’re a good possession team (eight-best in the league) and they have solid special teams. But they’re fourth-from-last in the NHL in shooting percentage and save percentage. You can survive having one of your two percentages in the league’s bottom third, but probably not both. They need to keep plugging away and hope their luck turns.

The Flames are without Anthony Mantha.

The Senators are without Noah Gregor and Artem Zub.

This is the first of two meetings between these teams this season. They’ll conclude their season series in Calgary on Dec. 19.