After 80 games and 189 days, the Calgary Flames (39-27-14, 92 points) enter the final three days of the 2024-25 NHL season still alive in the quest for a Stanley Cup playoff berth. While games occur elsewhere that will contribute to their fate, the Flames will try to avoid the out-of-town scoreboard and take care of what they can control when they host the Vegas Golden Knights (49-22-9, 107 points). It’s a Pacific Division clash between a team that’s clinched the top spot in the division and can’t alter their playoff seeding at all… and a team desperate to stay alive for another day.

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

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

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

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, Zayne Parekh, Dryden Hunt and Aydar Suniev.

So here’s the deal: the Flames need to win this game. They have not beaten Vegas this season. But a very similar-looking group, featuring many of the same Flames players you see on the team right now, beat Vegas in three of four meetings last season. It can be done.

The Flames have, over their past two games, played five pretty good periods of hockey. They were not all that good on Sunday night in the first period against San Jose, but they were otherwise really good against the Wild and Sharks. If the Flames can get down to business early and play their game, we don’t hate their chances.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Victor Olofsson – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Brandon Saad – Tomas Hertl – Pavel Dorofeyev
Tanner Pearson – Brett Howden – Alexander Holtz
Ivan Barbashev – Nicolas Roy – Keegan Kolesar

Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Ben Hutton – Zach Whitecloud
Nicolas Hague – Kaedan Korczak

Per Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg: Ilya Samsonov starts for Vegas, backed up by Akira Schmid. The Golden Knights won’t be dressing Adin Hill, Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Noah Hanifin or Alex Pietrangelo against the Flames.

So…. Vegas has locked themselves into the Pacific Division’s top spot, and they will be facing the first wild card team in the Western Conference when the playoffs begin. They can’t move up or down. They are locked in. They will be trying to play three solid periods of unremarkable hockey, avoid injury, and generally just try to get out of Calgary quickly so they can get ready for the playoffs.

Their motivation is much different than Calgary’s. They’re not gonna phone it in – they’re a damn good hockey team – but it may be tough for them to match the Flames’ urgency and desperation in this game.

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

The Golden Knights are without Alex Pietrangelo and Jack Eichel (and several other players they’re holding out for precautionary reasons).

This is the fourth and final regular season meeting between these clubs this season. Vegas has won the three previous games, though the Flames lost in overtime in their last meeting.