Calgary Flames (40-28-7) at Nashville Predators (47-21-8), 5 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The playoff-hopeful Calgary Flames hope to avoid a third straight loss on Sunday evening as they wrap their season series with the Nashville Predators.
The Flames followed up Wednesday's shootout loss to Dallas with a 4-2 setback at the Minnesota Wild on Friday in the opener of a five-game road trip. Josh Jooris and Markus Granlund had goals for Calgary, but Minnesota scored a trio of third-period goals.
Karri Ramo allowed all four goals on 35 shots before being pulled in the final stanza for Jonas Hiller, who stopped the only shot he faced in relief.
"Right from the drop of the puck, they dominated us," Calgary head coach Bob Hartley said. "Quite a performance for the Wild."
Calgary, which visits Dallas on Monday, fell to 2-3-2 over its last seven games and trails the Los Angeles Kings by one point for third place in the Pacific Division. The Flames also sit three points back of the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference with seven games to play. The Jets host the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
The Flames have won their first two meetings with the Predators this season, snapping a five-game slide in Nashville with a 3-2 shootout win back on Oct. 14.
Hiller is in line to start this contest and is 5-9-0 with a 2.92 goals against average and .909 save percentage in 15 games versus the Preds. He has not started a game for the Flames since March 17.
The Predators hit the ice one day after clinching a playoff spot with a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals. Nashville will return to the postseason for the first time since 2012 and in Peter Laviolette's first season as the club's head coach.
"The guys played hard all year and put ourselves in a position to clinch at this point in the season," said Laviolette. "Sometimes you get in (to the playoffs) and you don't even play. Somebody loses and you get in. I always think it's a little bit more meaningful when you earn the win, you earn the two points and the right to get in."
Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists for the Preds, while Mattias Ekholm, Mike Fisher and Mike Ribeiro also tallied. Pekka Rinne made 25 saves.
Nashville's next goal will be locking up the Central Division, which it leads by three points over St. Louis. However, the Preds have played one more game than the Blues, who are not in action on Sunday.
The Predators also trail the Anaheim Ducks by one point for the most in the NHL.
Defenseman Shea Weber missed his first game of the season on Saturday as he was unable to play versus the Capitals due to a lower-body injury. He is day- to-day with the ailment.