Tonight the Calgary Flames begin a mini road trip through Eastern Canada when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs are playing arguably their best hockey of the season as they've gone 9-3-1 over the last 13 games and rank 10th in scoring chance for% during that span.
Meanwhile, the Flames are anything but on fire, as they have dropped five of last seven games – the wins came against Colorado and Arizona – and just lost by three at home to a team that entered play on a 10-game losing streak.
The offense has dried up a bit, Mike Smith has hit a wall, and the only thing their PK has killed on a nightly basis is themselves.
The Flames really, really, need to get back on track and a win tonight would certainly be a good start.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Michael Ferland Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik Sam Bennett - Mark Jankowski - Garnet Hathaway Curtis Lazar - Matt Stajan - Troy Brouwer
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton T.J. Brodie - Travis Hamonic Brett Kulak - Michael Stone
Mike Smith
Toronto (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Zach Hyman - Auston Matthews - Connor Brown Patrick Marleau - Nazem Kadri - Leo Komarov James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Mitch Marner Matt Martin - Dominic Moore - William Nylander
Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey Jake Gardiner - Nikita Zaitsev Andreas Borgman - Roman Polak
Frederik Andersen
What to watch:
1) The Brodie - Hamonic pairing has had its share of struggles this season, especially on the road where they have an expected goals for% of just 37.6(!!!). With a high-powered Toronto team able to dictate matchups, it could be a rough night for that pairing.
2) Smith has posted a sub .900 save percentage in eight of his last 12 starts. He's not entirely to blame for the poor numbers, but he still needs to be much better if the Flames are going to turn this thing around.
3) The JvR - Bozak - Marner line has been terrific at home this season as they've controlled a hair under 60% of the shot attempts at 5v5. They generally get softer matchups, so they could have a very good night playing primarily against a 3rd line with Hathaway on it and one of the worst 4th lines you'll see.
4) One bright spot for the Flames has been the recent play of Sam Bennett. He has six points in his last four games and has recorded four or more chances four times in his last six games.
5) The Maple Leafs lead the league in expected goals per 60 minutes on the man advantage and we all know how bad the Flames' PK has been. If they are undisciplined, this game could get ugly.
Puck drop is just after 7:30 eastern and can be seen on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.