5 Things - Flames vs. Sabres

1. Pedal To The Metal

They're doing alright.

And to continue borrowing from Sniff 'n' The Tears, they're ready for a little jiving on a Thursday night.

As scoreboard-watching season begins to take effect - with admittedly a LOT of hockey left to play - the Flames find themselves in a bit of a 'Driver's Seat' in the Western Conference wild card race ahead of a visit from the Buffalo Sabres. GET TICKETS

Calgary holds the final wild card berth, and has games in hand on both Vancouver and St. Louis (both of whom are a point off the Flames' 51-point pace to date), but more importantly, seven of the club's next 10 games will be contested on home ice.

Only two Western Conference teams - the Kings and Jets - have suffered fewer regulation home-ice losses than Calgary this season, and after two days of brisk practices, the prevailing message coming from the Flames dressing room has been one bent on taking advantage of this upcoming home-heavy schedule.

"We want to go into this 4 Nations break with as much separation as we can get," forward Blake Coleman explained Wednesday. "We've got seven home games and three road games comin' up. We've got a lot of good teams coming, but it's a good opportunity for us to try to put some separation in the standings.

"Obviously, the way hockey is - and the parity in this league - it's going to be a dogfight all the way down the stretch, whether it's for seeding, or just getting into the playoffs. There's never going to be a time to relax, but knowing that we have these 10 games, and then a little bit of time to reset, allows us to kinda put the gas down a little bit."

Coleman's doing his part, too.

After that three-point effort Saturday night in Winnipeg, the Texas Tiger has upped his January totals to eight points (2G, 6A) in eight contests, leading the club in scoring since the calendar flipped to 2025.

Leading by example, but for head coach Ryan Huska, Coleman is as even-keeled and reliable a player as he has on his roster.

And that veteran savvy - not to mention the Stanley Cup pedigree - will prove beneficial down the stretch.

"He’s always the same player. Not really much changes about his game," Huska said of Coleman. "It always seems to me the bigger the game, or the quality of the situation - he raises his level all the time.

"That’s what you love about him, and that’s why he’s such an important player in our room."

So for Coleman and his teammates, there really is no place like home.

And after a mini reprieve from a busy January schedule, it's time to get back at it, in front of the C of Red.

2. Know Your Enemy

For the Sabres, Calgary is stop No. 3 on a four-game, Pacific Division swing, one that's brought about a defeat in Seattle, and a 3-2 comeback win over the Canucks two nights ago in Vancouver.

Jiri Kulich had a goal and two assists, while J.J. Peterka's third-period tally proved the difference. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves in goal, the last coming on a last-gasp, point-blank opportunity in the final breaths of the third period.

"I thought we played a strong third period," head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters following the contest. "We got traffic in front of their goaltender which I think we needed.

"Good effort from the start and finish."

Overall, Buffalo occupies the 16th position in the Eastern Conference - four points adrift of the New York Islanders - and 11 points separate them and the final wild card berth.

But the Sabres are 7-6-2 since snapping a 13-game losing streak against those Isles two days before Christmas.

Offensively, the team is led by Tage Thompson's 21 goals and 39 points (more on him below), though it's veteran Jason Zucker - who missed Tuesday's game in Vancouver - who leads the club with 11 goals away from home.

Captain Rasmus Dahlin and the aforementioned Luukkonen will represent the club at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off in February, competing for Sweden and Finland, respectively.

3. Fast Facts

2024-25 Season Series

Tonight marks the second of two regular season meetings between the Flames and Sabres, with Buffalo having claimed a 3-2 shootout victory on home ice Nov. 9.

Matt Coronato and Mikael Backlund had the Calgary goals that afternoon, as the Flames erased a two-goal deficit to salvage a point at the end of a three-game, Eastern Conference swing.

Jonathan Huberdeau leads all active Flames in career scoring against the Sabres. In 38 contests, he's recorded 13 goals and 41 points.

Did You Know?

Jakob Pelletier's been waiting a while to play against the Buffalo Sabres again.

Pelletier scored his first NHL goal at Buffalo, his tally starting a run of seven unanswered goals at KeyBank Center Feb. 11, 2023, in a contest the Flames wound up winning 7-2.

He hasn't played the Sabres since.

But the 23-year-old comes into this evening's contest having put up four points (2G, 2A) and a +4 rating over his last four games.

4. Lineup Notes

Here's how the Flames lined up at practice Wednesday morning:

FORWARDS

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

DEFENCE

Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar - Daniil Miromanov
Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal
Joel Hanley - Tyson Barrie

GOALTENDERS

Dan Vladar
Dustin Wolf

5. Players To Watch

Flames – Rory Kerins

The 22-year-old is tracking for his home debut Thursday, and why not?

All he's done since being called up from the AHL's Wranglers is impress.

Kerins has four points - all assists - from his first four NHL contests, after leading the AHL with 21 goals from his 34 games played with the Wranglers this season.

Sabres - Tage Thompson

The 6'6" centre comes into tonight's contest with goals in back-to-back games, and leads Buffalo with 21 goals and 39 points on the season.

Tuesday against Vancouver, Thompson led all Sabres skaters with five shots on goal, finishing +2 in that 3-2 win over the Canucks.

He scored a powerplay goal against the Flames in their first meeting this season, and is the only NHL forward to record a shot of more than 100 MPH this season according to NHL Edge - a feat he's achieved four times.