After a pair of back-to-back losses on back-to-back nights to kick off their road trip, the Calgary Flames (18-22-4, 40 points) will try to get back into the win column on Saturday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins (21-12-9, 51 points). The Flames are on a cold streak. The Penguins are on a hot streak. We’ll see how things go.

Today’s broadcast begins at 1:30 p.m. MT on Sportsnet’s national feed and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

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

Yan Kuznetsov – MacKenzie Weegar
Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
Joel Hanley – Brayden Pachal

Assuming he’s feeling better after being under the weather this week, we’re projecting Devin Cooley to start, backed up by Dustin Wolf. (Wolf’s started eight in a row, so a switch is probably the right move.) The healthy extras against Boston were Brayden Pachal and William Stromgren, so we’ll see if either of them rotate back in.

The Flames won three in a row after Christmas, but they’re 0-4-0 in 2026, with a pair of wins at home and then two more to start off their current road trip. In their three wins, the Flames out-scored their opponents 10-4. In their four losses, they’ve been out-scored 17-6. Suffice it to say, there’s been a bit of a reversal. The Flames haven’t suddenly forgot how to play hockey, but they’re making odd defensive reads and decisions at key moments that turn decent opposition scoring chances into really good ones.

If the Flames have simplify their game a bit and get back to trusting their system a bit more, they’re fully capable of winning games.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Kevin Hayes
Evgeni Malkin – Ben Kindel – Yegor Chinakhov
Anthony Mantha – Tommy Novak – Justin Brazeau
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

Parker Wotherspoon – Erik Karlsson
Brett Kulak – Kris Letang
Ryan Shea – Jack St. Ivany

Via our pals at the rink: Arturs Silovs will start in net, backed up by Stuart Skinner. Connor Clifton and Rafael Harvey-Pinard are the healthy extras, with Bryan Rust coming out with an injury and Kevin Hayes coming into his lineup spot. (We’re not sure how that’ll impact Pittsburgh’s lines.)

The Penguins are playing well lately. They have a fancy new goaltender who they received in a trade with a team whose name we can’t recall right now. They’ve won six in a row since Christmas, including four wins in a row since the calendar flipped over. Yeah, a few of those games required extra time, but they’re a group that’s finding ways to win – especially at home.

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

The Penguins are without Rutger McGroarty, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones and Bryan Rust.

This is the first of two games between these teams this season. They’ll close out the season series in Calgary on Jan. 21.

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