5 Things - Flames vs. Capitals

1. Saddledome Rise

With seven of their last nine games played away from the friendly confines, the Flames had Aeroplan Elite status firmly in their crosshairs.

Alas, they can finally unpack and stash away their suitcases.

For now.

Tonight, the 24-17-7 Flames begin a stretch of seven games in 12 days, with six of those happening on home ice, as teams across the NHL sprint toward the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Over the past month, the Flames put together a 4-3-0 road record, while their two home stopovers – Jan. 11 vs. LA, and Jan. 23 vs. Buffalo – produced a pair of victories.

That should have the players in good spirits, as they enter tonight’s homestand opener one point clear of the playoff cut line, while sporting a 15-6-3 mark on Saddledome soil.

For tonight, the key is not only maintaining a stretch of strong play in their home barn – but bouncing back, after suffering a disappointing 5-2 defeat on Sunday in Winnipeg.

"I don’t think it was as bad as what the score said,” groaned MacKenzie Weegar, whose second-period lamp-lighter got the Flames within one, before the Jets pulled away in the third period. “Obviously, there were some breakdowns at key moments. The one with a minute left in the second period was tough, and then the penalty kill was a bit of a dagger in the third period. But 5-on-5, I thought we played a patient game.

“It’s a good team in a good building, coming from Minnesota. We played patient, we had some opportunities, but obviously we didn’t get the job done."

Nazem Kadri scored the other for Calgary, while Dan Vladar made 22 saves.

Gabe Vilardi led the way for Winnipeg, with a two-goal, four-point effort.

"I actually thought we played a pretty good road game,” said Head Coach Ryan Huska. “There were certain situations where I felt like we could’ve used a save tonight, which isn’t something that we have said a lot this year. And then, when we made a few mistakes, they were able to capitalize, whether it was a poor penalty that we took – with too many men on the ice, or the offensive zone penalty – that’s kind of the difference in the game.

“But for our team, I thought our effort was where it needed to be and there were stretches of the game where I thought we did a lot of good things.

“We just weren’t able to keep them out of our net like we needed to tonight.”

Following tonight’s encounter, the Flames host the Ducks and Red Wings, before another tight turnaround brings them to Seattle on Sunday, ending a busy stretch of seven games in 11 days.

They will then entertain the Maple Leafs on Feb. 4, Avalanche on Feb. 6, and Kraken again on Feb. 8 – all at the 'Dome – before the two-week break.

2. Know Your Enemy

All eyes have been trained on the Great 8.

But around these parts, it’s eighty-eight that ferries the most weight.

Andrew Mangiapane – traded by the Flames to the Washington Capitals for a second-round pick last summer – is back in the city he called home for the better part of a decade.

It promises to be an emotional night for the 28-year-old, was drafted in the sixth round in 2015, and recorded 109 goals and 215 points in the Flames’ iconic insignia.

But for Mangiapane and the rest of Spencer Carberry’s first-place outfit, the goal is to get back in the win column after having a six-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored and Charlie Lindgren made 23 saves for the Capitals (33-11-5), who suffered their first regulation defeat of 2025, halting an impressive, 12-game point spree (9-0-3).

Alex Ovechkin led all skaters with six shots on seven attempts, which included four scoring chances and two that were of the high-danger variety. However, he was unable to solve Lankinen and remains 20 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record of 894.

“I think we had pretty good chances,” Ovechkin told Kevin Woodley of NHL.com. “Obviously, the goalie played well – and you can see at the end, we (didn’t execute). Puck was bobbling, bouncing, but it was a good battle. We fought ‘til the end.”

Ovechkin has 22 goals in 33 skates this season. With precisely that many games left on the regular-season calendar, the record will fall, should be maintain his .67 goals-per-game pace the rest of the way.

In goal tonight, the Capitals are expected to go back with Calgary native Logan Thompson, who signed a six-year, $35.1M contract extension ($5.85M AAV) on Monday. The 27-year-old - who was traded to the Caps from the Vegas Golden Knights over the summer - enters the night with an eye-popping 22-2-3 record, along with a .925 save percentage and a 2.09 goals-against average.

"Really happy to be here for many more years to come," Thompson told reporters following practice. "I've loved my time here and am thankful for the opportunity the Capitals have given me.

"I'm just having a lot of fun and not thinking -just going out there and playing. That's kind of been my new mindset this year and it's just been a lot of fun. I'm enjoying every minute of it."

Thompson, who is not one of the three puck-stoppers selected to represent Canada at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, is 12-1-1 with a .938 save percentage since being left off the roster.

Offensively, the Capitals are one of the NHL’s highest-scoring teams, with an average of 3.49 goals per game – good for third behind the Lighting and Jets.

Dylan Strome leads the team with 46 points (12G, 34A), with six others – including Aliaksei Protas (41 points), Dubois (39) and Connor McMichael (36) – all clear of the 30-point plateau.

3. Fast Facts

Yes He Can(ton)!

Kevin Rooney could suit up in his 300th NHL game tonight. The Canton, Mass. native made his NHL debut on March 2, 2017, against tonight’s opponent - the Capitals - when he was a member of the New Jersey Devils. Since signing with the Flames in July of 2023, the 31-year-old has nine points (6G, 3A) in 89 spins.

Home Cookin':

The Flames have out-scored their opponents 71-63 at the 'Dome this year, with Jonathan Huberdeau leading all skaters with 11 home-turf tallies.

East-West Bowl:

The Flames have a record of 6-3-0 against the Metropolitan Division this year, and a 9-5-5 mark against all Eastern Conference opponents.

4. Lineup Notes

With Kevin Bahl out with an undisclosed injury, the Flames were forced to make some tweaks on the backend for Sunday’s clash in the Manitoba capital.

Jake Bean drew back into the rotation after sitting out Saturday’s win over the Minnesota Wild, while Bahl’s regular partner, Rasmus Andersson, played opposite of lefty Joel Hanley.

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Jakob Pelletier
Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato
Martin Pospisil - Yegor Sharangovich - Andrei Kuzmenko
Ryan Lomberg - Kevin Rooney - Clark Bishop

Defence

MacKenzie Weegar - Daniil Miromanov
Joel Hanley - Rasmus Andersson
Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal

Goaltender

Dan Vladar

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On Monday, it was announced that Rory Kerins had been assigned to the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL. Kerins had four assists and a +3 rating, along with an average of 12:14 per game in ice time, in five spins with the big club.

He returns to the Flames’ AHL affiliate, where he’s a point-per-game player (21-13-34) and has earned an invite to the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic, Feb. 3 in Palm Desert, Calif.

Prior to the skate this morning, the Flames recalled Adam Klapka and Tyson Barrie from the Wranglers.

5. Players to Watch

Flames - Blake Coleman

While he was unable to find the back of the net on Sunday in Winnipeg, Coleman was the team’s biggest driver offensively.

No. 20 finished the night with a team-leading three shots on six attempts, while contributing five, individual, high-danger scoring chances.

He also dished out four hits – one back of the team leader, Weegar.

Coleman did all of this while his line with Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato had the lowest offensive zone-start percentage on the team (40%), meaning the majority of their shifts began nearly 200 feet from paydirt.

Capitals - Tom Wilson

Wilson has already cracked the 20-goal barrier, while his 35 points have him on pace for 59, which would be a new career best.

While the 6-foot-4, 220-lb. winger is primarily known – to outsiders, anyway – as one of the NHL’s top ‘shift disturbers,’ the offensive side of his game makes him particularly dangerous.

Wilson has tallied north of 20 goals three times already, with his career high in points (52) coming during the 2021-22 campaign.

Certainly, his 1,478 career penalty minutes are a deterrent.

But there’s lots more to be aware of.