Game Day: Flames Must Focus On Pounding Flyers on Family Day

The Calgary Flames (26-19-11) continue to be the most intriguing team in the NHL. They can't seem to string more than two wins together at a time, yet remain in the hunt for a playoff position in the Western Conference. 

But they can't let important point slip away against the Philadelphia Flyers (22-25-10) in Monday's matinee at the Saddledome. (2 p.m., Sportsnet)

The Flames coming off a big win against the New York Rangers, with Mikael Backlund scoring on a powerplay in overtime by tipping Jonathan Huberdeau's shot/pass from the high slot past Jaroslav Halak. It was a big night for Huberdeau, who is building back his confidence after a rocky start to his season with the Flames. 

"You know, being in that spot where we are in the standings we need these points," Huberdeau told reporters on Sunday. "We're gonna take advantage of this homestand."

The Flames lost an ugly game to start the three-game home stopover, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Detroit Red Wings that sparked a cryptic but potent tweet from Huberdeau's agent, Allan Walsh, but bounced back against the Rangers to win 3-2 in OT, with Huberdeau earning two assists. 

"(It) certainly wasn't too long, but you know, we got the first (win) now, we want the second one before we get on the road."

The Flames will visit Arizona, Vegas and Colorado before hosting the Boston Bruins at home next week. It's one of the harder pieces of their schedule in the home stretch. 

But first, it's Philly, a cold team coming off a 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks and a 4-5-1 record over their last 10 games. It's time for the Flames to beat teams below them in the standings with the same desperation they came up with against the Rangers. 

Calgary Flames projected lineup

Forwards: 

Dillon Dube – Elias Lindholm – Tyler Toffoli

Jakob Pelletier – Nazem Kadri – Jonathan Huberdeau

Andrew Mangiapane – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman

Milan Lucic – Trevor Lewis – Brett Ritchie

Defence: 

Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson

MacKenzie Weegar – Chris Tanev

Nikita Zadorov – Dennis Gilbert

Goaltender: 

*Jacob Markstrom

*Speculative based on winning his previous start

Philadelphia Flyers projected lineup

Forwards: 

Hayes-Cates-Tippett

JVR-Frost-Konecny

Farabee-Laughton-Allison

Deslauriers-Brown-*

* Flyers used 11 forwards and seven defencemen in Vancouver

Defence:

Provorov-York

Sanheim-Ristolainen

Seeler-DeAngelo

Braun

Goalie:

Hart