Calgary Flames (13-10-5) at Nashville Predators (7-15-6)
When: Tuesday, 6 p.m. MT, Bridgestone Arena
TV: Sportsnet West. Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan
Odds: Flames +130, Predators -156
The buzz
One of these squads will be snapping out of skid at Tuesday’s final buzzer. The Flames are shooting for their first road victory in what feels like forever. They have lost eight in a row in their away whites. The Predators, meanwhile, have dropped seven straight — and that’s regardless of what rink they’re in. They own a 0-4-3 record over that slumpy stretch.
If you like to wager a few bucks on the nightly NHL action, we would advise against betting the ‘over’ in this one. The Flames and Predators both struggle to light the lamp. The Flames are averaging 2.54 goals per game, the fifth-lowest output in the league. The Predators are dead last at 2.18.
The quote
“It’s always nice to come back. My oldest daughter and her husband live here, so it’s always nice to go out for dinner and spoil them a little bit. We have a lot of friends here. We were here for four years, still have a home here. So yeah, it’s always nice to come back to Nashville.”
— Assistant coach Dan Lambert, who was on the Predators’ staff from 2019-23, in conversation with FlamesTV
The news
- Check back after Tuesday’s morning skate for news on who will be between the pipes for the Flames. It’s an interesting decision. While Dustin Wolf was shelled in Sunday’s 6-2 loss in Dallas, he did pitch a shutout against the Predators in their first meeting of the season. Do the Flames hope for a repeat feat, or does Dan Vladar get the nod in Nashville?
- Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau is riding a four-game point streak. He has two goals and three assists over that span.
- The Predators are missing one of their key cogs — and one of the NHL’s best faceoff men — with Ryan O’Reilly out week-to-week due to a lower-body injury. They’re also down a couple of regulars on the back-end, with both Alexandre Carrier and hit machine Jeremy Lauzon on the shelf.
The projected lineup
Forwards
Huberdeau-Kadri-Pospisil
Sharangovich-Backlund-Coronato
Coleman-Zary-Kuzmenko
Pelletier-Rooney-Duehr
Defence
Bahl-Andersson
Weegar-Miromanov
Bean-Pachal
Goalies
Vladar
Wolf
The injuries
Justin Kirkland (knee), Anthony Mantha (knee)
In case you missed it
Team Canada opens its world junior selection camp Tuesday in Ottawa and Flames defence prospect Zayne Parekh will be among those in attendance. Can Parekh, the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, use his initial snub as motivation?