Calgary @ Vegas preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 23, 2018 ) Calgary 0, Vegas 2

The Calgary Flames appeared poised to run away and hide in the Pacific Division after stringing together seven consecutive victories, but back-to-back home losses have whittled their lead to three points over San Jose. The Flames now hit the road for a pair of games, including visiting the resurgent Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night.

After allowing a combined eight goals over six games, Calgary was outscored 10-4 by Minnesota and Toronto in dropping back-to-back home games in regulation for the first time since mid-November. “It’s the first time it has happened in a while. We’re fine," forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "We’ve done a great job this year. Let’s just get back to work. We’re good.” The Golden Knights are feeling pretty good about themselves, answering a rut of six losses in seven games by rattling off four straight victories -- a streak that coincided with the arrival of Mark Stone via trade. "Maybe getting Stoner kind of energized our group," forward Ryan Carpenter said. "We believe in this room that we can make a strong push here at the end of the season."

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet1, AT&T Sportsnet-Rocky Mountain (Las Vegas)

ABOUT THE FLAMES (41-18-7): Tkachuk became the fifth Calgary player with at least 62 points with a goal in Monday's 6-2 loss to Toronto and he lit up Vegas by scoring twice and collecting two assists in a 7-2 rout on Nov. 19. Leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau has five assists during a four-game point streak and also had a four-point game (one goal, three assists) against the Golden Knights this season. David Rittich was pierced for all six goals Monday but he stopped 46 of 50 shots in splitting two starts versus Vegas in November.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (36-26-5): Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 53 shots he faced in registering back-to-back shutouts against Vancouver and Anaheim to boost his league-leading total to eight, including a 2-0 victory over Calgary on Nov. 23. The reigning NHL First Star of the Week, Fleury also leads the league with 32 victories and needs one more to tie Jacques Plante (437) for eighth place on the all-time list. Stone has only one assist in his four games with Vegas but he is a plus-4 as his line has yet to allow a goal.

OVERTIME

1. Calgary juggled its lines at Tuesday's practice, moving rookie Andrew Mangiapane on a second unit with Mikael Backlund and Elias Lindholm.

2. Golden Knights F Reilly Smith has four goals and five assists in his last nine games.

3. Flames C Sean Monahan is one goal shy of his career-high total (30) but has tallied once in 10 games.

PREDICTION: Golden Knights 3, Flames 2