5 Things - Flames vs. Kraken

1. Oh, The Weather Outside ...

... is frightful.

Downright miserable, actually.

And on an evening centred around the Flames Foundation's Night of Giving, the Flames are eager to be Grinches against a Seattle Kraken club with whom they sit tied in the Western Conference standings. GET TICKETS

Calgary wasn't exactly an easy place to navigate Wednesday - by land or air - a parallel to the difficulties faced by road teams at the Scotiabank Saddledome of late. With a record of 7-2-1 over their last 10 home outings, the Flames have been inhospitable, to say the least.

And after a tough outing in San Jose, that lean, mean home-ice form might be just what the doctor ordered.

"Just turn the page," Head Coach Ryan Huska said following the 6-3 setback to the Sharks. "We’ll review a few things with the guys, then we get ourselves ready for the next opponent."

Whether its shoveling the driveway, or shoveling for rebounds in front of opposing nets, efficiency is the name of the game at this time of year.

Get the job done quickly, then warm up next to the fire.

It's been blazing inside the 'Dome of late. As they turn that aforementioned page, fire-pokers at hand, the Flames will aim to keep that home fire well-stoked.

And they'll look to their leading scorer to lead the charge.

Nazem Kadri has been really good on home ice of late, notching eight points over his last five contests beneath the Saddle, and he's only 10 assists away from matching his season total from 2024-25.

In fact, over the past 30 days, he sits tied for sixth in the League with 15 helpers overall, all while leading the team with 108 shots on goal this season.

With 17 points in 14 career games against the Kraken, who better than to play hero for the home side, and coal-deliverer for tonight's guests.

2. Know Your Enemy

Seattle comes to town looking to turn their recent fortunes around. The Kraken have just one win in their last 10 games, and come to Alberta on the heels of a 5-3 setback to the Colorado Avalanche on home ice Tuesday. Seattle took a 3-2 lead into the third period two nights ago, but came away empty-handed after surrendering a trio of third-period goals.

"You have to move forward. There’s no other way around it," Head Coach Lane Lambert said after the club practiced in Seattle Wednesday afternoon. "What’s happened has happened, what’s done is done and you have to move forward and look forward to the next game, which is Calgary (Thursday).

"We’ve got four divisional games coming up here before Christmas, so a big stretch of games here on this road trip for us."

The Kraken have been bitten by the injury bug of late, too. Forwards Berkly Catton, Jared McCann and Jaden Schwartz are all on injured reserve, and defenceman Brandon Montour left Tuesday's loss with an ailment that Lambert said might keep him out of tonight's game, the first in a four-game, Pacific Division trip that includes stops in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles.

Veteran forward - and captain - Jordan Eberle leads the club with 10 goals and 20 points, while Vince Dunn is Seattle's top defensive scorer with 19 points on the campaign.

Joey Daccord - a former junior teammate of Flames netminder Devin Cooley at Muskegon of the USHL - has started 20 of Seattle's 31 games between the pipes. He has two shutouts on the season as part of an 8-8-4 overall record.

3. Fast Facts

2025-26 Season Series

The Flames and Kraken will meet three times this season, with tonight's game marking the first of those matchups.

After this evening's game, Seattle will visit the Scotiabank Saddledome again Jan. 5, before Calgary pays its lone visit of the regular season to the Emerald City Apr. 11.

The Flames took six of a possible eight points from the Kraken in 2024-25 - three of the four games went to overtime - with Nazem Kadri's OT marker earning Calgary a 4-3 extra-time win in the most recent matchup between the two sides, Mar. 25 at the 'Dome.

Milestone Watch

Jonathan Huberdeau is one point away from 800, after he logged an assist on Nazem Kadri's third-period goal Tuesday in San Jose.

With a point, the veteran winger would become just the third player from the 2011 NHL Draft to reach 800 career NHL points, and 26th active skater. Among his Draft class, Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov and Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele have already reached the 800-point mark in their careers.

4. Thank You, Sweden

For Mikael Backlund!

The Flames captain became just the second player in franchise history to make 1,100 career appearances with the club Tuesday against the Sharks.

Each of Backlund's 1,100 NHL games have come in a Flames uniform, and over that span, he's amassed the sixth-most goals (220), seventh-most assists (359) and fifth-most points (559) in franchise history. His 18 career short-handed tallies are also second-most in club history, behind Theoren Fleury's 28.

And it's been a busy week around the NHL for those celebrating 1,100 career games, too. Joining Backlund in his milestone Tuesday was Jeff Skinner of the Sharks, while Winnipeg Jets centre Jonathan Toews appeared in his 1,100th career contest Wednesday night.

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Blake Coleman

Coleman hit double-digits in goals with his 10th of the campaign in San Jose, an absolute laser-beam of a one-timer that got the Flames on the board in Tuesday's first period.

The Texas Tiger's got goals in back-to-back games, and his three short-handed markers this season - the most recent of which came over the weekend in Los Angeles - have him tied for the League lead in that category.

Coleman is tied for seventh among Flames franchise leaders with 11 short-handed goals, a total he's accrued since signing in Calgary as a free agent prior to the 2021-22 season.

Kraken - Chandler Stephenson

The former Regina Pat and two-time Stanley Cup champ comes into tonight's game on a six-game point streak.

Over that span, Stephenson has scored three times, and chipped in on three additional Seattle goals with assists.

It's the longest point streak by a Kraken player this season