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Flames Game Day 27: A Thursday night against St. Louis (7pm MT)
Calgary Flames center Mikael Backlund (11) celebrates the goal scored by center Nazem Kadri (91) in the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third period at Nationwide Arena.
Photo credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Dec 5, 2024, 14:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 5, 2024, 13:10 EST
This article is brought to you by bet365.
On Tuesday night, the Calgary Flames (13-9-4, 30 points) played one of the most emotional games in club history. On Thursday, they’re playing a game against the St. Louis Blues (12-12-2, 26 points), in a game that has two points on the line but won’t carry the same emotional weight as Tuesday’s clash with Columbus. Can the Flames maintain the same attention to detail that propelled them to a win on Tuesday?
Tonight’s broadcast begins at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

The Flames

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:
Jonathan Huberdeau – Nazem Kadri – Martin Pospisil
Blake Coleman – Connor Zary – Walker Duehr
Yegor Sharangovich – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Rooney – Jakob Pelletier
Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar – Daniil Miromanov
Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal
Coming off a shutout last game, Dan Vladar starts for the second consecutive outing, backed up by Dustin Wolf. The projected extras are Joel Hanley, Tyson Barrie and Andrei Kuzmenko. It’s the exact same lineup that won against Columbus on Thursday.
The Flames have won their last six home games, with their last setback coming against Edmonton way back on Nov. 3. They’re 10-3-0 at home this season, with only the Toronto Maple Leafs (12-3-0) boasting a better home record. That’s great, because their record away from home isn’t as good – three wins in 13 games. While they figure out how to win away from the Saddledome, their record at home is keeping them in the playoff hunt.
The Flames begin Thursday’s action in the West’s first wildcard playoff spot. But they’re just two points up on Colorado, the best non-playoff team… so they’re not comfortably in the playoffs. They can’t afford a prolonged slide.

The Blues

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:
Brandon Saad – Robert Thomas – Jake Neighbours
Dylan Holloway – Brayden Schenn – Jordan Kyrou
Zach Bolduc – Oskar Sundqvist – Mathieu Joseph
Alexey Toropchenko – Radek Faksa – Nathan Walker
Philip Broberg – Colton Parayko
Ryan Suter – Matthew Kessel
Pierre-Olivier Joseph – Scott Perunovich
We’re projecting Jordan Binnington to start in net, backed up by Joel Hofer. Their projected extra is Alexander Texier.
The Blues began a four game road trip on Tuesday with an impressive 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. They’re the proud recipients of the New Coach Bump, having gone 3-0-1 since Jim Montgomery ended his week in limbo by replacing former Blues bench boss Drew Bannister. We’ll see how long the Blues’ return to form lasts, but they’re smack-dab in the middle of the West’s playoff race right now, and that’s where they want to be.

Unavailable players

The Flames are without Anthony Mantha and Justin Kirkland.
The Blues are without Torey Krug, Nick Leddy, Pavel Buchnevich and Justin Faulk.

The numbers

Flames
Blues
13
Wins
12
30 (.577)
Points (%)
26 (.500)
48.8%
(20th)
xGF%
46.6%
(27th)
21.3%
(16th)
PP%
15.0%
(28th)
71.3%
(30th)
PK%
79.4%
(18th)

Head to head

This is the first of three games between these teams this season, and the only one of three in Calgary. They place twice more, both in St. Louis, on Jan. 14 & 16.