After a four day gap since their last game, the Calgary Flames (22-16-7, 51 points) are back at home and back in action as they begin their match towards the 4 Nations Face-Off break when they host the Buffalo Sabres (18-24-5, 41 points). The Flames are coming off a win over Winnipeg on Saturday, while the Sabres are coming off a win over Vancouver on Tuesday. Who can keep their momentum rolling at the Saddledome?

Tonight’s broadcast begins at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 960 The Fan. (Sportsnet West and Pacific will be showing Edmonton and Vancouver.)

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Jonathan Huberdeau – Nazem Kadri – Martin Pospisil
Rory Kerins – Yegor Sharangovich – Andrei Kuzmenko
Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Ryan Lomberg – Clark Bishop – Jakob Pelletier

Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar – Daniil Miromanov
Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal

It was an optional morning skate, which is normal, but here’s what we’re hearing from the rink (via Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg). Dustin Wolf is expected to start in goal, backed up by Dan Vladar. Wolf has made six starts in January, going 4-2-0 with a 2.17 goals against average and .928 save percentage. The projected extras are Kevin Rooney, Joel Hanley and Tyson Barrie, which means Clark Bishop likely makes his Flames debut. We’ll confirm lines and pairings at warm-up.

The Flames are back at home after spending four games on the road – they went 2-2-0, beating Winnipeg and Chicago – and then having four days without any games. From here, they’re going to be pretty busy: in the next 17 days leading up to the 4 Nations Face-Off break, they play 10 times. Heck, Thursday’s game with Buffalo begins a stretch of three games in four nights (in four cities). Prepare for the frenzy.

Since the start of 2025, the Flames’ points leader is Blake Coleman with 8 points in 8 games. Next up? Matt Coronato, with 6 points. The Flames don’t have anybody who’s dominating offensively right now – nobody has scored more than twice – but they’ve gotten a little bit of scoring from everywhere, and it’s been enough so far.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

J.J. Peterka – Jiri Kulich – Tage Thompson
Tyson Kozak – Dylan Cozens – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Peyton Krebs – Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn – Sam Lafferty – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Rasmus Dahlin – Bowen Byram
Owen Power – Mattias Samuelsson
Connor Clifton – Henri Jokiharju

We’re projecting Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to start in net, backed up by James Reimer. The projected extras are Dennis Gilbert and Jacob Bryson.

This is the third game of a four game western trip for the Sabres. They lost in Seattle and then beat Vancouver, and they’ll finish their trip in Edmonton on Saturday. The Sabres are an interesting team; they have some really good pieces in place, but they just haven’t been able to cohere together in a way that’s gotten them any traction. They’ve been a win-one, lose-one team all season.

Keep an eye on Rasmus Dahlin; he’s one of the best young blueliners in the NHL.

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

The Sabres are without Jordan Greenway, Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker.

This is the finale of the two game season series between these clubs. The Sabres beat the Flames in a shootout in Buffalo back in November.