Calgary Flames (30-24-11) at Toronto Maple Leafs (39-24-3)
When: Monday, 5:30 p.m. MT, Scotiabank Arena
TV: Amazon Prime Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan
Odds: Leafs -193, Flames +160
The buzz
If the race was tight before, well … it just got tighter.
On the one hand, Sunday night’s results around the NHL at least meant that the Calgary Flames will enter Monday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs only two points back of the Vancouver Canucks.
On the other, though, they’ve now been leapfrogged in the standings by the St. Louis Blues and are tied on points with the Utah Hockey Club – who beat the Canucks on Sunday.
This is very much a four-team race, and while the Blues have played three more games than the Flames and Utah has played an extra two games, the standings put the onus on the Flames to make something of this coming road-trip.
That starts in Toronto against a Leafs team that has won its last five head-to-head games against the Calgary crew, including a lopsided 6-3 victory back in early-February.
It’s the first of a four-game road-trip for the Flames that will continue on Tuesday against the New York Rangers, and they’re desperate for points.
After Sunday’s results, the Canucks are two points ahead of the Flames but have played two more games. Those games-in-hand could prove to be meaningful, as the Flames technically control their own destiny. If they were to win out for their final 17 games, nobody can catch them.
That’s not going to happen, of course, but everything between Monday and the end of the regular season is about picking up points. There are no more moral victories, it’s about wins-and-losses, plain and simple.
The quote
“We’ve gotta go. It’s not the time where you can go .500 on a road-trip, and certainly not less than that. I think three-of-four is probably right where we want to be. Four-of-four would be the bar with what we’re trying to achieve.”
— Flames forward Ryan Lomberg
The news
- The Flames will be without Mikael Backlund, who is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury and Connor Zary, who is serving the second of a two-game suspension and will be eligible to return Tuesday against the Rangers.
- The Leafs have lost two in a row and will be desperate to get back-on-track. They’ve fallen four points back of the Florida Panthers, who lead the Atlantic Division. Finishing first in the division means avoiding a brutal first-round matchup with either the Panthers or Tampa Bay Lightning and given the history in Toronto, that’s something they’ve obviously got to be targeting.
- Check in after morning skate for more updates
The projected lineup
Forwards
Huberdeau-Kadri-Coronato
Farabee-Sharangovich-Coleman
Pospisil-Frost-Klapka
Lomberg-Rooney-Hunt
Defence
Bahl-Andersson
Hanley-Weegar
Bean-Pachal
Goalies
Wolf
Vladar
The injuries
Justin Kirkland (knee) and Anthony Mantha (knee) are both out for the season. Mikael Backlund (upper-body) is out week-to-week.