Flames at Golden Knights preview

FLAMES (41-18-7) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (36-26-5)
10:30 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, SN1, ESPN+, NHL.TV

Vegas is in third place in the Pacific Division, 12 points behind first-place Calgary and nine behind the second-place San Jose Sharks. The Golden Knights are eight points ahead of the Arizona Coyotes.
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who has back-to-back shutouts, will start for Vegas. He has not allowed a goal in 168:43 and is one win from tying Jacques Plante (437) for eighth place on the NHL's all-time wins list.
David Rittich is expected to start in goal for the Flames, who've lost back-to-back games in regulation after a seven-game winning streak. Calgary is three points ahead of San Jose for first place in the division and the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau has five assists during a four-game point streak.
Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"We haven't scored as much as we'd like. As much as we like our game away from the puck and defensively, we've struggled to score." -- Flames coach Bill Peters
"I think you have to have an understanding of where you are [in the standings]. We understand that if we want to have success, not only now but going forward, these are the teams we're going to have to play." -- Golden Knights forward Mark Stone

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Matthew Tkachuk
Andrew Mangiapane -- Mikael Backlund -- Elias Lindholm
Sam Bennett -- Mark Jankowski -- Austin Czarnik
Michael Frolik -- Derek Ryan -- Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano -- Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
TJ Brodie -- Dalton Prout
David Rittich
Mike Smith
Scratched:Curtis Lazar, Dalton Prout, Oscar Fantenberg
Injured: James Neal (upper body), Michael Stone (blood clot)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty -- Paul Stastny -- Mark Stone
Brandon Pirri -- Cody Eakin -- Alex Tuch
Ryan Carpenter -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Ryan Reaves
Nate Schmidt -- Deryk Engelland
Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore
Jon Merrill -- Colin Miller
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Scratched:Tomas Nosek, Valentin Zykov, Nick Holden
Injured: Erik Haula (lower body), William Carrier (upper body)

Status report

Haula, who has been out since Nov. 6, began skating last week and has been on the ice a few times, Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said.

Stat pack

The Golden Knights are on their longest winning streak since winning seven straight games from Dec. 27-Jan. 12. ... The Flames have not lost three consecutive games in regulation this season. … Monahan has four points (one goal, three assists) during a four-game point streak. … Marchessault has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past six games.