Flames at Senators preview

4 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS, SNW, NHL.TV

The Game

The Calgary Flames will try for their seventh win in eight games when they visit the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

The Flames are 6-1-0 in their past seven games after going 2-5-1 in their previous eight.

Calgary has not announced a starting goalie. David Rittich made 35 saves in a 2-1 shootout win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Brothers Matthew Tkachuk of the Flames and Brady Tkachuk of the Senators will play their fourth NHL game against each other.

The Senators have lost a season-long nine straight games (0-5-4) after going 5-2-3 in their previous 10 games.

Senators coach D.J. Smith said he will decide on a starting goalie closer to game time. Craig Anderson made 39 saves in a 4-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, but Marcus Hogberg started each of the previous three games.

Players to watch

Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games but has not had a point in the past two. 

Senators forward Connor Brown has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past two games.

They said it

"We've got to make sure that we're ready to come and play hard because the one thing that Ottawa does is work. They're going to be honest, their legs are going to be going, and they're a good hockey team. We've got to make sure we're prepared to match that intensity." -- Flames coach Geoff Ward

"Honestly, it's so much fun. I've looked up to him so much and to be able to play against him head-to-head is a lot of fun. It must stink for my parents because I think they'd like to support [me] when I'm on the ice and Matthew's not, and then when Matthew's on the ice they like to support him, too, so it just kind of puts them in a little bit of an awkward position if one of us scores." -- Senators forward Brady Tkachuk on facing his brother Matthew

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Mikael Backlund

Matthew Tkachuk -- Elias Lindholm -- Andrew Mangiapane

Milan Lucic -- Derek Ryan -- Dillon Dube

Zac Rinaldo -- Tobias Rieder -- Sam Bennett

Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie

Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic

Oliver Kylington -- Rasmus Andersson

David Rittich

Cam Talbot

Scratched: Michael Stone, Alexander Yelesin, Mark Jankowski

Injured: Juuso Valimaki (knee)

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Connor Brown

Anthony Duclair -- Chris Tierney -- Drake Batherson

Filip Chlapik -- Colin White -- Tyler Ennis

Vladislav Namestnikov -- Artem Anisimov -- Scott Sabourin

Thomas Chabot -- Ron Hainsey

Mark Borowiecki -- Nikita Zaitsev

Mike Reilly -- Dylan DeMelo

Craig Anderson

Marcus Hogberg

Scratched: Mikkel Boedker, Cody Goloubef, Rudolfs Balcers

Injured: Anders Nilsson (concussion), Nick Paul (ankle)

Status report

It is the final game for the Flames and Senators before their respective NHL mandated breaks. … Pageau is hoping to play after being a late scratch with an upper-body injury on Thursday.

Stat pack

Monahan needs one point for 400 in the NHL. … Duclair, who leads the Senators in goals with 21, has not scored in nine games.