Flames at Maple Leafs
Coach Bob Hartley is keeping the bigger picture in sight as his Calgary Flames hit the road to face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. "The first four games are on the road and this is not an easy trip. There won't be easy trips," Hartley said of his team, which is just 4-17-1 in its last 22 visits to Toronto. "We want to be a playoff team. There is no sense putting whipped cream on everything. It's down to business and every game is going to be tough."
The Flames look to rebound after seeing their season-high four-game winning streak come to a halt with a 3-2 setback to San Jose on Saturday. The road won't get any easier when they face the Maple Leafs, who improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven contests with a 5-2 victory over Vancouver on Saturday. Joffrey Lupul continued his strong stretch by scoring a goal and setting up another in the triumph and has collected four tallies and three assists in his last four games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, RSN West (Calgary), TSN4 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE FLAMES (17-9-2): Sidelined since Oct. 25 with a shoulder injury, Mason Raymond could make his return against his former team on Tuesday. "He was close. It's just ... giving him a little confidence in contact drills," Hartley said. "Your conditioning can always get better." Raymond scored five goals and set up two others in 10 games to begin this season after recording 19 tallies and 26 assists in 2013-14 with Toronto.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (14-9-3): Phil Kessel is denying rumors that he is injured despite posting just two even-strength points in his last 10 games. The 27-year-old logged his second-lowest ice time of the season (14:13) in Saturday's win over the Canucks, one game removed after scoring a power-play goal in back-to-back contests. Toronto had been clicking with five tallies on the man advantage over the previous three games before failing on all three opportunities versus Vancouver.
OVERTIME
1. Calgary G Jonas Hiller will make his first start since Nov. 25, but he is 0-4-0 with a gaudy 4.84 goals-against average versus Toronto.
2. The Maple Leafs travel to Detroit for Wednesday's tilt before returning to Toronto to begin a three-game homestand against the Red Wings.
3. Flames C Joe Colborne (wrist) is accompanying the team on its road trip, but his return to the lineup is uncertain.