A busy schedule continues for the local hockey heroes! The Calgary Flames (26-20-7, 59 points), currently in the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference (on tiebreakers) host the Colorado Avalanche (31-22-2, 64 points), currently in the first wildcard spot in the West. It’s the second-last game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break for both teams, and an opportunity for each to solidify their playoff standings before the break.

Tonight’s broadcast begins at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West, One and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

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

Joel Hanley – Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar – Daniil Miromanov
Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal

We’re projecting Dustin Wolf to make the start in net, backed up by Dan Vladar. The projected extras are Ilya Solovyov, Tyson Barrie and Dryden Hunt. The Flames have shuffled their defensive pairings a bit, going back to a pair of old standards: Weegar-Miromanov and Bean-Pachal.

Since the calendar flipped over to 2025, the Flames have played 16 games and posted an 8-8-0 record. They haven’t played overly poorly by any stretch, but they haven’t been able to string together enough good pieces of their games to be rewarded. Case in point: the 6-3 loss to Toronto. They hung with a very good Leafs team for 30 minutes, and it was their own self-inflicted wounds – miscues while attacking that led to odd-man rushes against – that sunk them. When the Flames play within their system and commit to wearing teams down, they’re a really tough team to beat.

Keep an eye on Matt Coronato, folks. He’s very quietly putting together a strong season: he’s third on the team in goals, tied for fourth on the team in points, and is among the team’s plus/minus leaders. This is while he’s an important piece of the shutdown trio with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman. We’ve written and spoken a lot about Dustin Wolf’s excellence this season – and deservedly so – but we may be sleeping on Coronato a bit as a future (and current) impact player.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Jonathan Drouin – Casey Middelstadt – Juuso Parssinen
Miles Wood – Jack Drury – Ross Colton
Joel Kiviranta – Parker Kelly – Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Samuel Girard – Oliver Kylington
Keaton Middleton – Sam Malinski

We’re projecting Mackenzie Blackwood to start in net, backed up by Trent Miner. The Avalanche’s extras against Vancouver were Calvin de Haan and Oliver Kylington; with Josh Manson a question mark after after departing Tuesday’s game with an injury, we’ll see if one of them slots back in. If Kylington dresses, it’ll be his return to Calgary after his off-season departure. Update: Kylington is expected to play.

The Avalanche are 8-7-2 in 2025, with their most recent outing being a 3-0 loss to Vancouver on Tuesday. Since they finally solved their Mikko Rantanen riddle with his trade to Carolina, perhaps they can focus on just… playing good hockey. They boast a roster that’s thinned out a bit due to injury, but still boasts Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, two of the best in the game. When you have that duo, you have a whole lot.

The Flames are without Anthony Mantha, Justin Kirkland, Connor Zary and Kevin Bahl.

The Avalanche are without Gabriel Landeskog, Tucker Poolman, Valeri Nichushkin and Scott Wedgewood.

This is the first of three games between the Flames and Avalanche this season. They’ll meet again in Calgary on Mar. 14 and in Denver on Mar. 31.