Friends, it’s time for games to start counting.

The Calgary Flames (0-0-0, 0 points) kick off the 2026-27 regular season with a home game against the Seattle Kraken (0-0-0, 0 points). It’s the first of the final 42 home games at the Scotiabank Saddledome, and one of several clashes between the Flames and their newest divisional rival. Coming off some spirited pre-season contests, perhaps these games will have a bit more bad blood than their meetings in prior seasons.

Today’s broadcast begins at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West 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:

Matvei Gridin – Morgan Frost – Matt Coronato
Sam Honzek – Mikael Backlund – Joel Farabee
Connor Zary – Ryan Strome – Yegor Sharangovich
Maxim Tsyplakov – Martin Pospisil – Adam Klapka

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

Dustin Wolf is slated to start in net for the Flames, backed up by Devin Cooley. The expected healthy extras for this contest are Joel Hanley, Brayden Pachal and Brennan Othmann.

For the first time in awhile, there aren’t any players making their NHL debuts in this one. But when you compare this season-opener’s lines against last season, it’s a very different group. Guys that are dressing against Seattle that didn’t suit up in Game 1 in Edmonton in 2025-26 include Honzek, Strome, Pospisil, Tsyplakov, Nemec, Middleton, Parekh, Kuznetsov and Whitecloud. (Yes, that’s 83% of their blueline group.)

After a pretty short camp, we’ll see if the Flames can keep the good vibes going after they felt pretty good about their games to close out the 2025-26 campaign.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Jared McCann – Matty Beniers – Kaapo Kakko
Bobby McMann – Chandler Stephenson – Jordan Eberle
Shane Wright – Berkly Catton – Ryan Winterton
Jacob Melanson – Frederick Gaudreau – Curtis Douglas

Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson
Ryker Evans – Brandon Montour
Ryan Lindgren – Josh Mahura

We’re projecting Joey Daccord to start in net, backed up by Philipp Grubauer. The projected extras are Ville Ottovainen, Cale Fleury and Ben Meyers.

The Kraken had a disappointing season in 2025-26. They’ve made a few changes, particularly behind the bench, but they’re largely regrouping with the same lineup they had a year ago – plus trade deadline addition Bobby McMann. We’ll see if doubling down on their existing core was the right move for the Kraken.

The Flames are without Jonathan Huberdeau.

The Kraken are without Mackie Samoskevich and Jake O’Brien.

Okay, these teams have seen each other a lot recently and will continue to do so.

They played a pair of pre-season games. Now they’re playing twice between now and Sunday, and then four times before mid-November. After tonight, the Flames visit Seattle on Sunday, then host them on Oct. 30 before concluding the season series back in Seattle on Nov. 4. It’s a very odd schedule.