On Tuesday night, the Calgary Flames (18-12-7, 43 points) closed out 2024 with a hard-fought victory over one of their oldest rivals. On Thursday night, they’ll host their newest foe, the Utah Hockey Club (16-15-6, 38 points) for the very first time at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Flames are very much in the thick of the playoff hunt as 2025 begins, and they need all the points they can get.

Tonight’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 – Martin Pospisil
Yegor Sharangovich – Connor Zary – Jakob Pelletier
Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Rooney – Walker Duehr

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

We’re projecting Dan Vladar to start in net, backed up by Dustin Wolf. The projected extras are Andrei Kuzmenko, Daniil Miromanov and Tyson Barrie.

The Flames went 6-3-3 in December, but they were out-scored by their opponents 37-35. Their special teams continued to be a mixed bag, but they out-scored their opponents 22-21 over the month. They’re not a team that’s going to generate a ton of offence, but 37 games into this season they have a crystal clear idea of how they need to play to have a chance at wins. That level of self-awareness is pretty impressive this early in the team’s retooling cycle.

While the Flames have gotten some contributions from across their lineup, keep an eye on Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri. The team’s two most expensive players have been full marks over the past month and they’re aiming to continue that momentum into January.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Clayton Keller – Barrett Hayton – Nick Schmaltz
Jack McBain – Logan Cooley – Dylan Guenther
Liam O’Brien – Nick Bjugstad – Lawson Crouse
Michael Carcone – Kevin Stenlund – Alex Kerfoot

Mikhail Sergachev – Olli Maatta
Ian Cole – Michael Kesselring
Juuso Valimaki – Robert Bortuzzo.

We’re projecting Karel Vejmelka to start for Utah, backed up by Jaxson Stauber. It sounds like Mattias Maccelli and Vladislav Kolyachonok will be the extras, and it sounds like Clayton Keller and Robert Bortuzzo return from injuries. (Probably!)

Man, Utah entered the season with immaculate vibes after their move from Arizona, but things just haven’t gone their way in the first half of their first season in Salt Lake City. They’ve been ravaged by injuries lately and, as a result, their depleted roster just hasn’t had the same level of competitiveness it did earlier on. They’re riding a five game winless streak (0-4-1).

This is the third game of a four game road trip for Utah. They started it off with losses on back-to-back nights to Seattle and Edmonton to close out 2024.

The Flames are without Anthony Mantha and Justin Kirkland.

Utah is without Shea Weber, John Marino, Sean Durzi, Connor Ingram and Maveric Lamoureux.

This is the second of three meetings between these teams this season. Utah crushed the Flames 5-1 in Salt Lake City in October. They’ll close out their season series in Calgary on Apr. 1.