Preview: Flames at Panthers

FLAMES (31-26-4) at PANTHERS (28-21-10)
7:30 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-F, NHL.TV

Flames team scope

Goaltender Chad Johnson will start for the Calgary Flames for the first time in five games. The Flames hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference and are one point behind the Nashville Predators, who hold the first wild card. Johnson was pulled in his last appearance, when he allowed four goals on 23 shots in two periods during a 5-0 loss against the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 13. Center Sean Monahan, 22, became the youngest Flames player to score 100 goals in the NHL during Calgary's 3-2 win at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. "It's special to get goals like that," Monahan told the National Post after breaking the mark previously held by Hall of Famer Joe Nieuwendyk. "[Nieuwendyk] is a great player and someone that I actually idolized as a kid, and it's pretty cool to be recognized there with him." Forward Kris Versteeg is expected to play in his 600th NHL game. He has played for seven teams, including three seasons (2011-14) with the Florida Panthers. Calgary is 7-2-1 in its past 10 games.

Panthers team scope

Goaltender Roberto Luongo will move into fourth place on the NHL's all-time games played list at his position. The game Friday will be the 964th of his career and break a tie with Ed Belfour. Luongo has 452 NHL wins, fifth on the all-time list and two behind Curtis Joseph (454). Luongo's last start was Saturday in a 3-2 victory at the Los Angeles Kings, the fourth game of the Panthers' 5-0-0 road trip. Goaltender James Reimer started in a 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Florida's return to BB&T Center on Wednesday. Despite the loss, the Panthers are 8-2-0 in their past 10 games. "That game against Edmonton the other night, I thought we did a lot of good things," coach Tom Rowe said. "We had some chances and made a couple of mistakes in the offensive zone that cost us, but it's not the way we've been playing, and we'll be ready tonight." The Panthers are two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division, and two behind the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference. Florida has one game in hand on Toronto and New York and two on Boston. Forward Vincent Trocheck said there were no lingering effects from the upper-body injury that caused him to miss the final 7:35 of the second period against Edmonton. Trocheck, who has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past seven games, played 6:57 in the third period.

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Micheal Ferland
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik
Kris Versteeg -- Sam Bennett -- Troy Brouwer
Lance Bouma -- Matt Stajan -- Alex Chiasson
Mark Giordano -- Dougie Hamilton
TJ Brodie -- Michael Stone
Matt Bartkowski -- Deryk Engelland
Chad Johnson
Brian Elliott
Scratched:Dennis Wideman, Jyrki Jokipakka, Freddie Hamilton
Injured:None

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Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Jaromir Jagr
Jussi Jokinen -- Vincent Trocheck -- Reilly Smith
Jonathan Marchessault -- Michael Sgarbossa -- Nick Bjugstad
Shawn Thornton -- Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mark Pysyk -- Alexander Petrovic
Mike Matheson -- Jason Demers
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched:Jakub Kindl, Greg McKegg
Injured:None

Status report

Chiasson is expected to play in his 300th NHL game. Coach Glen Gulutzan told the Flames website he wasn't sure whether there would be any lineup changes other than Johnson starting. ... The Panthers are expected to go with the same forwards and defensemen for the third consecutive game.

Who's hot

Gaudreau has 11 points (one goal, 10 assists) in his past 10 games. Backlund has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past eight games. Tkachuk has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past seven games. Barkov has nine points (six goals, three assists) in eight games since his return from a back injury. … Huberdeau has eight points (four goals, four assists) in eight games since his return from an Achilles injury. Jokinen has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past seven games.