We’re into the home stretch of the 2024-25 season for the Calgary Flames (34-26-11, 79 points) and they are, improbably, in the playoff mix. But the Flames are coming off a loss to Dallas on Thursday despite a superb offensive effort, and they’re at the point where they have to start reeling in St. Louis or start preparing for the off-season. So while most meetings between the Flames and the Edmonton Oilers (41-26-5, 87 points) are pretty important, this one has a bit of added urgency for the red team.

Today’s broadcast begins at 8 p.m. MT on CBC, Sportsnet’s national feed, City TV and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

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

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

We’re projecting Dustin Wolf to start in net, backed up by Dan Vladar. The projected extras look to be Daniil Miromanov and Dryden Hunt. Yegor Sharangovich comes back in for the injured Connor Zary.

Man, the Flames did everything but outscore Dallas on Thursday night. They scored on the power play. They generated roughly a zillion shots. They were on the wrong side of a hot goalie (Casey DeSmith) and a pair of goal reviews that went against them. But man, if the Flames can replicate that level of pressure against the Oilers – and another 10 times after that – we like their chances.

The Flames begin Saturday’s action six points behind St. Louis for the final Western Conference playoff spot… with three games in hand. They need to continue grabbing points if they want any chance of catching the Blues.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Vasily Podkolzin – Leon Draisaitl – Viktor Arvidsson
Jeff Skinner- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Zach Hyman
Max Jones – Adam Henrique – Kasperi Kapanen
Corey Perry – Mattias Janmark – Connor Brown

Jake Walman – Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse – Ty Emberson
Brett Kulak – Troy Stecher

We’re projecting Calvin Pickard to start in net, backed up by Olivier Rodrigue. The big news appears to be the return of Leon Draisaitl, who’s missed some time with a minor injury. Aside from Draisaitl, though, the Oilers don’t seem to have anybody else returning against the Flames, so they’re still missing some key bodies.

The Oilers are a playoff shoo-in, but they’re on a collision course with Los Angeles for the fourth season in a row. They’re not at their best right now, but they’re also missing enough key players that you can easily argue that they’re nowhere near the top of their powers. But even with a diminished roster, they’re not to be taken lightly: the players they do have are pretty good.

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

The Oilers are without Evander Kane, Alec Regula, Trent Frederic, Connor McDavid, Stuart Skinner and Mattias Ekholm.

This is the third and final Battle of Alberta for 2024-25. Each team has won once – the Flames won 4-1 in Edmonton in October, the Oilers won 4-2 in Calgary in November.