5 Things - Flames vs. Jets

1. 'Dome Cookin'

That was fun, wasn't it?

From stem to stern, the Flames poured it on against the Sharks two nights ago and were it not for the heroics of netminder Yaroslav Askarov, the 2-0 scoreline could have been a bit more lopsided.

And all of a sudden, Calgary comes into tonight's all-Canadian clash with the Jets (TICKETS) with wins in three of their last four home games, outscoring their opponents 12-2 over those three victories, too.

The veteran-laden Jets will provide a different sort of challenge than did the youthful Sharks, but forward Matt Coronato and his mates are bent more on generating momentum, regardless of who occupies the visiting dressing room.

"I think that was definitely one of our best games of the year," said Coronato, who celebrated his birthday Friday with a practice session and a bit of media. "I think we played a full 60 minutes.

"I thought we did a good job limiting their offence and we had a lot of zone time, so definitely build off it."

Blake Coleman had the decider Thursday, his team-leading seventh goal of the season.

Scoring goals is nothing new for the Texas Tiger - remember, he had a 30-goal campaign in 2023-24 - but to date, he's accounted for nearly 18% of the Flames offence.

Head Coach Ryan Huska pins Coleman's early-season success to his hockey sense.

"He knows where to go, and he's very competitive, so he has zero fear in his game," Huska explained during his Friday media session. "And if that means he's going to crash into somebody to try to score, he's going to do that, where other people in certain situations, may be hesitant to go to the areas that he's got no problem going to.

"So I think he thinks the game really well. He understands where the puck is going to go, and again when you throw that no-fear factor in for him, it allows him to be in positions to score goals."

MacKenzie Weegar was absent from Friday's practice, but Huska attributed that to maintenance, adding he expects his veteran defenceman to assume his normal spot in the lineup against the Jets.

It's 90's Night at the 'Dome, too! So dust off your best Pog slammer, turn on your favourite Stone Temple Pilots CD, and (hopefully) get ready for a vintage Simpsons reference, or three, come game time.

2. Know Your Enemy

Tonight marks the final stop in a season-long six-game road trip for the Jets, who have experienced a bit of turbulence on their recent travels.

Winnipeg has just one win to show from their last five road outings, and landed in Calgary early Friday following a 5-3 setback in Seattle. Alex Iafallo, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor staked Winnipeg to a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes, but the Jets surrendered three unanswered goals in the third; Kraken captain Jordan Eberle potted the winner and the insurance marker in the final frame.

"This group here, usually you’re up 3-2 going into the third period on the road, it’s lockdown for us,” Head Coach Scott Arniel told reporters after the game. "We just made too many mistakes tonight.

"Three goals in our D-zone coverage, scripted coverage situations, and then our execution throughout the game was just really poor."

But let's be frank, this Jets team is good. And it's been built from within. Look no further than the likes of Scheifele and Connor, who along with defenceman Josh Morrissey are three of Winnipeg's star-studded cast of former first-round picks.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner, has made 60 or more starts in each of the last four seasons, and his 13 appearances this season are just three behind League leader Dustin Wolf.

Three-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Toews, signed by his hometown Jets this past summer, scored his first goal in Winnipeg silks during their last visit to Calgary Oct. 20.

3. Fast Facts

2025-26 Season Series

The Jets have the honour of being the first NHL club to conclude their season series with the Flames, which they'll do tonight.

It's the third meeting of the 2025-26 campaign between Calgary and Winnipeg - and second at the Scotiabank Saddledome - with the Jets holding the edge in the season set thus far.

Rasmus Andersson had the lone Flames marker in the first encounter, a 2-1 Winnipeg win Oct. 20 at the 'Dome, while Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman all lit the lamp in the most recent match between the two sides, a 5-3 Jets triumph Oct. 24 in Friendly Manitoba.

Teammate (and Family) Ties

Flames forward Ryan Lomberg and Jets winger Kyle Connor were teammates with the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms during the 2014-15 campaign. Connor led the team with 80 points that season before being selected at No. 17 in the 2015 Draft by Winnipeg, while Lomberg's 146 penalty minutes were tops among Phantoms skaters.

Calgary assistant coach Dave Lowry, meanwhile, will coach against his son (Jets captain Adam) for the first time since being hired by the Flames in September. The younger Lowry missed the first two meetings of the season series due to injury.

4. Hungry Like The Wolf

Dustin Wolf joined a pretty elite group Thursday night, when he made 17 saves to blank the San Jose Sharks at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

In doing so, Wolf (who hails from Gilroy, Calif.) became just the second California-born netminder to shut out a Californian NHL club in League history. Canucks netminder Thatcher Demko (of San Diego) was the first, whitewashing the Los Angeles Kings Dec. 6, 2021.

Thursday's clean sheet was the fourth of Wolf's young NHL career, and with the bagel, the 24-year-old became just the fourth goalie in Flames team history to record four or more shutouts with the team before the age of 25, joining Dan Bouchard, Trevor Kidd and Pat Riggin.

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Yan Kuznetsov

He's been steady, he's been calm, and Kuznetsov is starting to bring out the best in his teammates, too.

On the ice, he's helped limit opponents to just six high-danger chances at 5-on-5 over his five games of work, and Head Coach Ryan Huska figures his ever-present presence is helping partner MacKenzie Weegar be himself, too.

"We need Kuzy to be a simple, harder defenceman to play against, to allow MacKenzie a little bit of freedom to be a little bit more creative offensively, and for three of the four games that Kuzy’s played (alongside Weegar), I think he's done a really good job with that," Huska explained Friday after practice. "So the challenge for him is make sure it's a consistent thing.

“You always look at young guys that no matter how many games they've now got under their belt, they should always treat it like their first game in the NHL. So there needs to be some urgency to what you do. There has to be consistency to how you have to play the game and how we expect you to play the game."

Thursday against San Jose, he played 18:05, finishing +1 with a pair of blocked shots.

And since being recalled from the AHL's Wranglers earlier this month, the 23-year-old Russian has looked anything but out of place.

Jets - Kyle Connor

The Michigan product kick-started the Winnipeg offence in the last meeting between these two sides, and Connor comes into tonight's game with goals in two of his last three games.

Tied with Mark Scheifele for the team lead with 10 goals, Connor recorded his 600th career point (a goal) Nov. 9 at Anaheim.

He has 28 points (12G, 16A) in 29 career games against the Flames.