Flames at Panthers preview
Calgary tries to end three-game losing streak; Florida coming off back-to-back defeats at home
by Alain Poupart / NHL.com Correspondent
FLAMES (34-16-6) at PANTHERS (23-24-8)
7 p.m. ET; FS-F, SNW, NHL.TV
The Game
The Calgary Flames will try to end a three-game losing streak when they face the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Thursday.
The Flames, who've fallen into second place in the Pacific Division, one point behind the San Jose Sharks, are 0-2-1 since a 4-3 road victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 3.
The Panthers, who have lost back-to-back games after going 6-2-0 in their previous eight, are 13 points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Goalie James Reimer will start for the Panthers. He was pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots in his last start, a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
Players to watch
Flames forward Elias Lindholm has 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in his past 17 games.
Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past eight games.
They said it
"We haven't been as good with the details of the game since probably the All-Star Game." -- Flames coach Bill Peters
"We've lost two in a row. We obviously don't want to go down that road. Tonight is a big response game for us. We want to get back into the winning column and keep pushing and see what happens." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner
Flames projected lineup
Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund - Sam Bennett
Andrew Mangiapane -- Mark Jankowski -- James Neal
Michael Frolik -- Derek Ryan -- Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
Oliver Kylington -- Dalton Prout
Mike Smith
David Rittich
Scratched: Rasmus Andersson, Austin Czarnik
Injured: Michael Stone (blood clot)
Panthers projected lineup
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Frank Vatrano
Mike Hoffman -- Vincent Trocheck -- Evgenii Dadonov
Henrik Borgstrom -- Derick Brassard -- Denis Malgin
Jayce Hawryluk -- Riley Sheahan -- Troy Brouwer
Mike Matheson -- Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle -- Mark Pysyk
James Reimer
Roberto Luongo
Scratched: Bogdan Kiselevich, Jamie McGinn, Micheal Haley
Injured: Derek MacKenzie (shoulder), MacKenzie Weegar (upper body), Colton Sceviour (wrist)
Status report
Tkachuk left the ice after being hit in the wrist by a shot from Brodie during the morning skate but will play. … Frolik, who has no points in his past six games and no goals in his past 10, was moved from the second line to the fourth line. … Hawryluk will be back in the lineup after missing four games with an ankle injury. … McGinn, who made his season debut Tuesday after having back surgery in September, will sit because he's in "rest mode," Boughner said.
Stat pack
Gaudreau has gone six games without a goal after scoring 10 in his previous 11 games. … Florida has the NHL's third-ranked power play (25.9 percent) but is 0-for-8 in its past two games.