PREVIEW - FLAMES VS. JETS

The Flames continue the pre-season tonight with the finale of a home-and-home set with the Winnipeg Jets at 7 p.m. MT.
You can watch the game LIVE right here on CalgaryFlames.com or the Flames Facebook page (recommended) if you live in the team's broadcast region (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Nunavut).

NEED-TO-KNOW
GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pre-Game: Coach Bill Peters
Pre-Game: Dillon Dube
Pre-Game: Mark Giordano
Pre-Game: Andrew Mangiapane
Pre-Game: David Rittich
GAME DAY FEATURES
'Running Out of Time'
Projected Lineup
FIRESTARTER PODCAST
S02E02: Stockton coach Cail MacLean
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
MORE INFO
You can watch tonight's game LIVE right here on CalgaryFlames.com
UPDATES

We're in the home stretch now.
With a pared down roster and two of the final three games of the pre-season held here on Scotiabank Saddledome ice, the Flames' opening-night lineup is beginning to take shape.
On Sunday, the Flames dropped a 4-1 decision to the Jets at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg and now own a 2-2-1 record in the friendlies.
Adam Ruzicka tallied for the visitors, while Cam Talbot made 24 saves in the contest, but a three-goal third period for the homeside proved to be the difference.
Winnipeg's top line of Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers combined for five points in the victory, while former Flames draft pick Laurent Brossoit finished with 23 saves.
The Flames had the day off Monday, but things were busy behind the scenes as five players - Byron Froese, Justin Kirkland, Andrew Nielsen, Buddy Robinson and Rinat Valiev - were placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment, while 13 others were sent directly to the Flames' AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat.
Twenty-eight players remain in camp, including 16 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders.
"We'll go with a stronger lineup (tonight) - probably the strongest lineup we've had to this point," said head coach Bill Peters following Sunday's game. "Then, in Game 8 - on Saturday against Edmonton - that will probably be our final dress-rehearsal with what we expect to ice on opening day, with maybe one or two slight adjustments.
"It's an important week coming up."

The Jets, meanwhile, were back on the ice Monday and deployed the following forward line combinations and D pairs, according to Ken Wiebe of The Athletic:
FORWARDS
Nikolaj Ehlers - Mark Scheifele - Blake Wheeler
Kristian Vesalainen - Bryan Little - Jack Roslovic
Mason Appleton - Mark Letestu - Andrei Chibisov
Ville Heinola - Andrew Copp - Gabriel Bourque
Heinola, a defenceman, filled in at forward due the absences of Adam Lowry and Mathieu Perreault.
DEFENCE
Josh Morrissey - Neal Pionk
Nathan Beaulieu - Dmitry Kulikov
Anthony Bitetto - Tucker Poolman
However, only a few of those players will be making the trip to Calgary, as the Jets give many of their prospects one last look:

Dustin Byfuglien remains on personal leave and because the star blueliner has not reported to camp, the Jets have suspended him (for the time being) to free $7.6 million in salary cap relief.
"It's absolutely procedural and Dustin was aware of it," Jets coach Paul Maurice told the Winnipeg Sun.

HEAD-TO-HEAD:

Last year, the Flames won the season series 2-1, outscoring the Jets 11-5 - including 10-4 in the two victories. The two sides first hooked up on Nov. 21, 2018 at the Scotiabank Saddledome, when the Flames tallied five first-period goals en route to a 6-3 triumph. They followed that up with a 4-1 performance on Dec. 27 in the Manitoba capital, with Johnny Gaudreau recording the first of his two hat tricks last year. Gaudreau led all skaters in head-to-head scoring with five points (4G, 1A) in three games, and has nine goals and 18 points in 14 all-time, regular-season tilts against Winnipeg.

LET'S TAKE IT OUTSIDE:

The Flames and Jets will face off in the 2019 Heritage Classic on Oct. 26 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.
Tickets are still available
. Both teams are playing in their second outdoor extravaganza, with the Flames knocking off the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Feb. 20, 2011 at McMahon Stadium, and the Jets falling 3-0 to the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 23, 2017 at IG Field.