FLAMES (41-29-4) at BLUES (40-28-5)
7 p.m. ET; CITY, FS-MW, NHL.TV
Flames team scope
Calgary Flames goaltender Brian Elliott will start for the first time against the St. Louis Blues, his former team; he's 12-1-1 with 26 goals against and two shutouts in his past eight starts. "It's pretty cool to be able to play against your friends," Elliott said, "but this time of year, it's not so friendly anymore." The Flames are three points behind the Edmonton Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division, five points behind the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks for the Pacific lead and one point ahead of the Nashville Predators for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Calgary is 12-3-0 in its past 15 games, but have lost two straight for the first time since Jan. 23-24, when they lost four in a row. The Flames will get Matthew Tkachuk back in the lineup after the rookie forward was suspended the past two games for a hit on Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty last Sunday. "It's a fine line," Tkachuk said. "It's tough when you're just watching your team, especially when we didn't get the outcome we wanted the past two games. I'm moving forward, I'm back in now and I'm just going to try and make a difference." Tkachuk will rejoin linemates Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik. "It's a good addition for us," coach Glen Gulutzan said. "To get those guys back, they play so well together. They have great chemistry."
Blues team scope
The Blues will look to maintain their hold on third place in the Central Division; they are tied with the Nashville Predators in points, but have four more regulation/overtime wins. The Predators host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. The Blues have won four in a row, are 9-1-0 in their past 10 and 16-7-0 since coach Mike Yeo took over for Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1. The Blues have allowed 14 goals in their past 10 games. "I didn't even know that was kind of the number, but that's pretty good," defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said. "Obviously goaltending's No. 1. They've been playing great. Even [Thursday] night at the start of the game, [Jake Allen] kind of made some big saves and kept us in it for a little bit. We were a little slow-starting, but I think there's been a focus for the past 20-25 games just to tighten that part up. Early in the year, we were just giving up so much. People were blaming the goalies or whatever, but we were giving up a lot of pretty quality chances. It makes their life pretty difficult." Allen, 7-1-0 with 10 goals allowed and two shutouts in his past eight starts, will face Elliott for the first time since both were teammates in St. Louis last season. "It will be fun to play against [Elliott]," Allen said. "He's a great goalie, but points are crucial for both teams right now."
Flames projected lineup
Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Micheal Ferland
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik
Lance Bouma -- Sam Bennett -- Alex Chiasson
Kris Versteeg -- Matt Stajan -- Troy Brouwer
Mark Giordano -- Dougie Hamilton
TJ Brodie -- Michael Stone
Matt Bartkowski -- Deryk Engelland
Brian Elliott
Chad Johnson
Scratched: Dennis Wideman, Freddie Hamilton, Curtis Lazar, Rasmus Andersson
Injured: Ladislav Smid (neck)
Blues projected lineup
Jaden Schwartz -- Alexander Steen -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Magnus Paajarvi -- Patrik Berglund -- David Perron
Zach Sanford -- Ivan Barbashev -- Nail Yakupov
Scottie Upshall -- Kyle Brodziak -- Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester -- Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Carl Gunnarsson -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched: Jordan Schmaltz
Injured: Paul Stastny (lower body), Robby Fabbri (knee), Jori Lehtera (upper body), Dmitrij Jaskin (upper body)
Status report
With Tkachuk returning, Freddie Hamilton goes back to being a healthy scratch. ... Elliott didn't face the Blues in a 6-4 St. Louis win at Calgary on Oct. 22; Allen wasn't in goal for the return matchup, a 4-1 Flames win at St. Louis three days later.
Who's hot
Gaudreau has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his past nine games. ... Monahan has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past 10 games. ... Elliott is 12-1-1 his past 14 starts. ... Tarasenko has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past nine games. … Pietrangelo has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past six games.
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