Friends, get ready for what could be a really fun evening of hockey.

It’s the very first Battle of Alberta of the 2026-27 campaign, and the 271st overall since the Flames moved north in 1980. It’s the Calgary Flames (5-6-0, 10 points) visiting the Edmonton Oilers (8-2-2, 18 points) at Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton. Two big points, and provincial bragging rights, are on the line.

Today’s broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. MT on Amazon Prime (it’s exclusively a streaming game) and QR Calgary! Tune in for Warmies before the game and After Burner following the game on the Barn Burner YouTube channel!

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Aydar Suniev – Morgan Frost – Yegor Sharangovich
Joel Farabee – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Matvei Gridin – Martin Pospisil – Ryan Strome
Brennan Othmann – Jonathan Castagna – Adam Klapka

Kevin Bahl – Simon Nemec
Jake Middleton – Zach Whitecloud
Yan Kuznetsov – Zayne Parekh

We’re not anticipating any changes for the Flames, so Devin Cooley makes his fifth consecutive start, backed up by Dustin Wolf. The projected extra skaters are Maxim Tsyplakov and Joel Hanley.

Since the last time these two teams met, the Flames have made some changes: Connor Zary’s in the AHL, while Nazem Kadri, MacKenzie Weegar and Ryan Lomberg are all elsewhere. This could potentially be the first-ever Battle of Alberta appearances for Aydar Suniev, Ryan Strome, Brennan Othmann, Jonathan Castagna, Simon Nemec and Jake Middleton.

The Flames are feeling good about their game right now. They’ve won four in a row, five of their last six, and have managed to get Ws against some pretty decent outfits like Anaheim, Carolina, Minnesota, Detroit and Toronto. They’re working hard, they’re getting the bounces, and they’re getting key saves and key goals at key times. It’ll be fascinating to see if they can keep it up in Edmonton.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Vasily Podkolzin – Connor McDavid – Leon Draisaitl
Colton Dach – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Kasperi Kapanen
Alex Formenton – Owen Michaels – Trent Frederic
Mathieu Joseph – Jason Dickinson – Isaac Howard

Mattias Ekholm – Evan Bouchard
Ryan Shea – Connor Murphy
Shakir Mukhamadullin – Ty Emberson

We’re projecting Tristan Jarry to start in net, backed up by Matt Tomkins. The projected extras look to be Max Jones, Filip Hallander and Jake Walman. It sounds like Jason Dickinson and Mattias Ekholm will both make their returns to Edmonton’s lineup for this contest.

The Oilers haven’t won a game in regulation in their last four outings: losing to Detroit in a shootout and Toronto in regulation, and needing extra time to get past Minnesota and Carolina before that. Make no mistake: the Oilers have some top-notch talent at the upper end of their lineup. But there’s a drop-off after that, and that’s what’s leading to challenges.

Well, that and their goaltending.

The Flames are without Jonathan Huberdeau and Sam Honzek.

The Oilers are without Alec Regula, Frederik Andersen, Mattias Janmark, Matthew Savoie, Devon Levi and Zach Hyman.

This is the first of four Battles of Alberta in 2026-27. After this, they’ll meet again in Calgary on Mar. 3 and Mar. 23, and then once more in Edmonton on Apr. 5.