Flames and Avalanche Tangle for Second Time in Eight Days

Calgary Flames at Colorado Avalanche, 6PM MT

Ball Arena, Denver CO

Calgary Flames (36-15-7, 79 Pts) - Colorado Avalanche (41-13-5, 87 Pts)

TV: SN1, Radio: SN960

Starting Goalies

Calgary: Vladar (Expected) - 8-4-1, .900 SV%, 2.96 GAA

Colorado: Francouz (Expected) - 10-3-1, .920 SV%, 2.48 GAA

Injury Report

Calgary: Oliver Kylington (Lower Body) Day-to-Day, Questionable for Tonight

Colorado: Bowen Byram (Head), Samuel Girard (Lower Body), Gabriel Landeskog (Knee)

The Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche will clash tonight in Denver at Ball Arena for the second time in just eight days. The Flames took last weekend’s matchup by a 4-3 score in a game that required overtime where Johnny Gaudreau ended up as the hero. Last Saturday’s game was a very entertaining contest that certainly lived up to the high expectations that fans, analysts, and the teams likely had coming into it.

The Flames started backup netminder Dan Vladar in that game in what was an odd decision but he managed to have a steady performance to earn the win. With Jacob Markstrom having played last night in Calgary, it is quite possible we see Vladar in net again tonight but at the same time it wouldn’t be a shock to see Markstorm get the start either. If there’s one thing about Sutter as of late, it’s that he’s left the opponents guessing about which goaltender Calgary is going to start.

The Avalanche lost two of three this week and have lost four out of five overall, a rare blip in what has been an otherwise dominant season. There is some adversity heading Colorado’s way though as they will have to deal with the loss of their captain Gabriel Landeskog who suffered a knee injury in their last game in Carolina. Landeskog’s injury is relatively minor as far as knee injuries go and he should be back this year, but it will be a big hit to be without their leader and top goal scorer.

Heading into tonight’s meeting, the Flames currently trail the Avalanche by eight points for top spot in the Western Conference standings. Calgary did trail by 13 before last Saturday’s game so they did a good job of starting to shrink that gap this week. It is still pretty unlikely that the Flames can catch Colorado, but a win tonight plus a game in hand would at least make it conversation through the final 20 games or so.

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Calgary

Hot: Johnny Gaudreau - 10 Points in 5 Games, Tyler Toffoli - 7 Goals in 10 Games

Not: Sean Monahan - 0 Points in 9 Games

Colorado

Hot: Cale Mark - 15 Points in 10 Games, Nathan Mackinnon - 8 Goals in 9 Games

Not: None Really?

The Flames and Avalanche will meet one more time this year in Calgary on March 26.