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The Calgary Flames begin a five-game road trip in Seattle to face the Kraken. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:08 p.m. EST.

Calgary enters tonight with a 23-17-9 record (55 points) and sit fifth in the Pacific Division. Nazem Kadri leads the Flames in scoring with 19 goals thus far. Tyler Toffoli sits in second on the team with 17 goals, while Elias Lindholm’s 14 goals rank him third. Lindholm leads the Flames in points with 42. Toffoli (40) and Kadri (38) round out Calgary’s top three. Jacob Markstrom continues to struggle through the season. Markstrom is 13-13-5 with a 2.86 goals against average and an .893 save percentage in 33 games.

Seattle enters tonight in first place in the Pacific Division with a 28-14-5 record (61 points). The Kraken are led by a resurgent Jared McCann in goals with 23. Matty Beniers and Daniel Sprong sit second and third on the team with 17 and 15 goals respectively. Andre Burakovsky leads Seattle in points with 39, and is one of six skaters with at least 32 points this season. Jordan Eberle’s 37 points slots him second on the Kraken, while Beniers and Vince Dunn are tied for third with 36 points each. Martin Jones has been the number one goaltender in the Pacific Northwest this season. Jones is 23-6-3 with a 2.78 GAA and an .895 SV% in 34 games. Unfortunately for the Kraken, Beniers will miss the next two games with an upper-body injury and defenseman Justin Schultz has been placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury.

The teams have split the first two meetings with each other this season, after the Flames took all four games last season. Tonight’s projected starting goaltenders are Markstrom for Calgary and Jones for Seattle.

Prediction: Seattle 3, Calgary 1

It will be very interesting to see how Seattle adjusts without Beniers tonight, but I still think they get the job done. It has felt like an up-hill battle for the Flames all season, and it will not stop tonight. I expect a tighter-checked game tonight with little room to operate. It might take a leaky goal to get things going here.

Odds Presented By Betfred Sportsbook 

Spread- Calgary Flames +1.5 (-260) / Seattle Kraken -1.5 (+165)

Moneyline- Calgary Flames +100 / Seattle Kraken -120

Total- 6.0 – Over (-115) / Under (-105)

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