The Calgary Flames have played just four games this season when they weren’t missing a player due to injury. And while they’re still without a pair of players whose seasons have ended due to injuries, all signs point to the club getting pretty close to full strength for Sunday’s game with the San Jose Sharks.

While nothing’s guaranteed quite yet, based on Saturday’s practice it’s pretty reasonable to expect to see Kevin Bahl and Connor Zary return to action against the Sharks.

Here’s how everyone lined up on Saturday morning at Winsport:

Jonathan Huberdeau – Nazem Kadri – Matt Coronato
Connor Zary – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman
Yegor Sharangovich – Morgan Frost – Joel Farabee
Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Rooney – Martin Pospisil

Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
Joel Hanley – MacKenzie Weegar
Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal

Dustin Wolf was in the starter’s net, Dan Vladar in the other net. Adam Klapka was the 13th forward and rotated in on the fourth line; Ilya Solovyov and Daniil Miromanov were skating as the fourth defensive pairing.

The forward group features 11 of 12 players that played on Feb. 8 against Seattle, in the same configurations even, with Zary slotting in for Dryden Hunt alongside Backlund and Coleman. The defensive group sees the Flames return to a trio of pairings that seem to provide a good amount of stability and balance; Bahl & Andersson and Bean & Pachal are two of the most-used pairings this season, while Hanley & Weegar puts Weegar on his natural side (in contrast to him playing on his left with Miromanov).

The Flames are currently carrying 21 players on their active roster, so they would be able to activate Bahl and Zary from the injury reserve list on Sunday without making any other moves. They have two open roster spots they could fill, and both players already count against the salary cap.

The Flames have played 15 games without Zary and posted a 7-7-1 record. They’ve played eight games without both Zary and Bahl and posted a 2-5-1 record. With Anthony Mantha and Justin Kirkland both done for the season after knee surgeries, the likely returns of Zary and Bahl – along with Frost and Farabee getting their first stretch of dedicated practice time since being acquired from Philadelphia last month – likely puts the Flames to as close to full strength as they’ve been in months.

Heck, on paper, this might be the best Flames lineup they’ll put on ice all season.

We’ll get into the nitty-gritty of the schedule elsewhere, but here’s broadly what the Flames have in front of them: starting on Sunday, there are 54 days before the end of the season. The Flames play 27 games over those 54 days, which shakes out to a game every second day. They play 11 games at home and 16 games on the road – including a six game trip that follows Sunday’s clash with the Sharks.

They have just three stretches where they have consecutive days between games (Mar. 9-11, Mar. 15-16 and Mar. 23-24). Suffice it to say, Saturday was possibly the last bit of practice time they’ll get. From here on out, it’ll be a grind to the end of the season and managing fatigue and player health will likely be the main focus.

The Flames have put themselves within reach of a playoff spot, as they enter the final 27 games just three points back of Vancouver for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. They haven’t necessarily accomplished anything yet, but they’re in a very positive position heading into the homestretch.