Five things to watch for when the Calgary Flames take on the Pittsburgh penguins:
1. Special teams play The Flames have taken more penalties than every team in the league while the Penguins aren't far behind slotting 7th on the list.
Both teams clearly have discipline issues and play fast – since January 1st, the Flames rank 2nd in pace (attempts for + against/60) at 5v5 and the Penguins rank 14th – so there could be quite a few penalties in this one.
Expect special teams to play a big role. Luckily for the Flames, they've been much better in that area of late.
2. Fighting fire with fire
We should see a lot of Sidney Crosby vs Johnny Gaudreau in this game, which is good news if you like goals.
The Penguins' revamped top line has been exceptional when together this season. They've controlled better than 56% of the shot attempts and are expected to score more than three goals per hour based on the chances they generate.
On the other side of things, Calgary's top line (with Micheal Ferland, who is expected to return tonight), has controlled better than 53% of the shot attempts, out-scored their opponents by 17, and are expected to score a solid 2.8 goals per hour.
There should be no shortage of fireworks when these two lines match up, especially with both teams missing their No. 1 goaltenders.
3. Depth could be an issue The Flames' lack of depth has been a problem all season long and there's little reason to expect anything different tonight.
Pittsburgh has an elite scoring winger and a No. 2 center anchoring the 3rd line and I'm comfortable saying Riley Sheahan and Conor Sheary are a lot more talented than any player skating on Calgary's 4th line. Depth on depth will almost certainly be a blood bath in Pittsburgh's favor.
4. Jon Gillies
The Flames were expected to go with a goalie rotation until Mike Smith returns but it appears Gillies will get his second straight start tonight vs the Pens.
He has allowed eight goals through four starts and posted a respectable .916 save percentage during that span so it's hard to fault Glen Gulutzan for going back to the 24-year-old, especially given David Rittich's struggles.
Gillies will no doubt see plenty of rubber vs the Penguins tonight. He'll need to be on his game for the Flames to have a chance.
5. Matthew Tkachuk Calgary's super sophomore has 10 points in his last 10 games and more scoring chances than all but Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Rick Nash, Vladimir Tarasenko and Viktor Arvidsson during that stretch.
Look for him to have another solid game against a Penguins team that tends to be pretty leaky defensively.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Micheal Ferland Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik Sam Bennett - Mark Jankowski - Garnet Hathaway Nick Shore - Matt Stajan - Troy Brouwer
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton T.J. Brodie - Travis Hamonic Brett Kulak - Michael Stone
Jon Gillies
Pittsburgh (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Patrik Hornqvist Carl Hagelin - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust Dominik Simon - Derick Brassard - Phil Kessel Tom Kuhnhackl - Riley Sheahan - Conor Sheary
Brian Dumolin - Kris Letang Olli Maatta - Chad Ruhwedel Jamie Oleksiak - Justin Schultz
Tristan Jarry
Puck drop is just after 7:00 eastern and can be seen on Sportsnet, TVA Sports, and ATTSN-PIT.
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