On Tuesday night in Edmonton, the Calgary Flames (15-18-4, 34 points) weren’t all that good in a 5-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers (19-13-6, 44 points). But after a few days off to stew about the result, it’s time for a rematch at the Saddledome. Can the Flames prove that Tuesday’s disappointment was just a blip? Or will the Oilers take the lead in this year’s season series?

Today’s broadcast begins at 8 p.m. MT on CBC, Sportsnet West, Ontario and East, and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. (Sportsnet Pacific, One and City TV have Vancouver/San Jose.)

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Yegor Sharangovich – Nazem Kadri – Joel Farabee
Jonathan Huberdeau – Morgan Frost – Matt Coronato
Connor Zary – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman
Ryan Lomberg – Justin Kirkland – Adam Klapka

Yan Kuznetsov – MacKenzie Weegar
Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
Joel Hanley – Hunter Brzustewicz

We’re projecting Dustin Wolf to start in net, backed up by Devin Cooley. The projected extra skaters are John Beecher and Brayden Pachal.

The Flames were decent enough in the first period against Edmonton on Tuesday, but the game got away from them (a) when they allowed a late first period power play goal and then another early in the second period and (b) when MacKenzie Weegar got tossed for the game for protesting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Beating Edmonton at full strength is tough: doing so without one of your top blueliners is a bridge too far.

The Flames need to stay out of the box and keep things at five-on-five if they want a chance in this hockey game.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin – Leon Draisaitl – Jack Roslovic
Andrew Mangiapane – Adam Henrique – Matthew Savoie
Max Jones – Trent Frederic – Mattias Janmark

Mattias Ekholm – Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse – Alec Regula
Spencer Stastney – Ty Emberson

Connor Ingram is expected to start in net, and he’ll be backed up by Calvin Pickard. The projected extras are Curtis Lazar, Riley Stillman and David Tomasek (who will be waived on Sunday when the roster freeze is lifted to terminate his deal). We’re not anticipating many changes for the Oilers. In a unique quirk of the first game back from Christmas, it’s day-of travel for Edmonton, who are flying down prior to Saturday’s morning skate.

Connor McDavid had five assists on Tuesday. He leads the NHL in points in December with 31. Leon Draisaitl had three goals on Tuesday. He’s second in the NHL in points in December with 24. The next-best point output this month is San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini with 18. McDavid and Draisaitl dominated the Flames on Tuesday. They’ll need to do a better job trying to contain them on Saturday night.

The Flames are without Martin Pospisil, Zayne Parekh, Sam Honzek and Jake Bean.

The Oilers are without Jake Walman, Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Clattenburg, Noah Philp and Tristan Jarry.

This is the third of four Battles of Alberta this season. The Flames won Round 1 in October, while the Oilers won Round 2 on Tuesday. They’ll close things out in Calgary on Feb. 4.

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