GAME DAY: Golden Knights face Calgary, seek 7th straight win

CALGARY, Alberta — The Golden Knights look for their seventh consecutive victory Sunday when they take on the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Opening faceoff is 6:30 p.m. Pacific time, and the game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.

The Knights (38-26-5, 81 points), who won a season-high seven in a row from Dec. 27 to Jan. 8, trail Calgary by eight points for second place in the Pacific Division with 13 games remaining.

The Knights scored a franchise-record five goals in the first period en route to a 6-2 victory at Vancouver on Saturday and are playing the second game of a back-to-back.

The team did not hold a morning skate, and no lineup information is available until coach Gerard Gallant’s media availability two hours before the game.

Goaltender Malcolm Subban was shelled for seven goals on 32 shots during a 7-2 loss in the Knights’ first visit to Calgary on Nov. 19.

Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 29 saves Saturday to move into eighth place on the all-time wins list, is 2-0 with a 0.50 goals-against average and .984 save percentage against the Flames this season.

Calgary (41-20-7, 89 points) has lost a season-high four straight and was overtaken by San Jose for the division lead.

The Flames, who are fourth in the league in scoring, have produced five goals during the losing skid.

Coach Bill Peters reunited his top line, with right wing Elias Lindholm (72 points) back alongside center Sean Monahan (72 points) and left wing Johnny Gaudreau (84 points).

The “3M Line” featuring center Mikael Backlund, right wing Michael Frolik and left wing Matthew Tkachuk also was back together at Calgary’s practice Saturday.

Tkachuk was at the center of a near brawl during the Knights’ 2-1 victory over Calgary on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.

David Rittich (22-7-5, 2.64 goals-against average, .911 save percentage) is expected to get the nod in goal for the Flames. He made 36 saves in a 2-1 loss to the Knights on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.

Left wing Sam Bennett, who left Thursday’s 2-0 loss to Arizona in the third period, said he was “good to go” and is expected to play against the Knights.

Former Golden Knights wing James Neal (lower body) resumed skating but will miss his 12th straight game. He is expected to be ready for the start of the playoffs, according to Peters.

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Max Pacioretty-Paul Stastny-Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault-William Karlsson-Reilly Smith

Tomas Nosek-Cody Eakin-Alex Tuch

Ryan Carpenter-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Nate Schmidt-Deryk Engelland

Brayden McNabb-Shea Theodore

Jon Merrill-Colin Miller

Goaltender

Marc-Andre Fleury or Malcolm Subban