5 Things - Flames vs. Stars

1. Planes, No Trains, and Automobiles

They're on home ice, but the Flames are almost treating tonight's contest with the Stars as a road game.

Another twist, another turn in a travel-heavy 2025-26 schedule opens another chapter this evening as Dallas pays a visit to the Scotiabank Saddledome on Hockey Fights Cancer night. GET TICKETS

When it comes to the travel itinerary, this week's schedule is perhaps the perfect microcosm. Four games, four cities, in four different time zones before the club jets south to sunny Florida on Monday morning.

More hectic still for newcomer John Beecher, who is slated to make his Flames home debut tonight mere days after being claimed by the Boston Bruins.

"I’m just in a hotel right now," Beecher told reporters Friday morning, less than 48 hours after making his Calgary debut in - naturally - the Eastern time zone. "I’m sure as the next couple days go by, it’ll start feeling more and more like home. I’m trying to get as used to it as I can before (Saturday).

It's a business-like approach, but it's also a reality of this season's condensed NHL schedule.

But it's also in the vein of the 'one-day-at-a-time' mindset the club has adopted over the past 18 months or so, too.

A focus on the task at hand, regardless of which area code that incoming phone call is coming from.

"I think we’re treating it like it’s still a road trip," Head Coach Ryan Huska affirmed. "Try to keep the guys in that mindset that we have a stop here in Calgary, and then we’re going to carry on to Vancouver after that.

"It’s funny, sometimes you go through stretches in your schedule like this, but every team deals with it, and we’re making sure we’re going to be at our best (Saturday) night."

2. Know Your Enemy

The Stars are off to a hot start, sitting second in the Central Division, and that start has been buoyed by the league's best road record.

Dallas improved their away mark to 7-1-2 after a 4-2 victory in Vancouver Thursday night, with tonight's contest marking the second in a four-game, Pacific Division road swing. Colin Blackwell's third-period marker proved to be the decider two evenings ago, while Mavrik Bourque, Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen also lighting the lamp versus the Canucks.

Jake Oettinger made 34 saves on the night, slamming the door shut after surrendering two tallies in the opening frame.

"I didn't think I had my best in the first period, and wasn't happy with the goals they scored, and just tried to bear down," he told reporters after the game. "It was 2-2, I felt like we should have been up 2-0 after the first so I was like 'time to buckle in and make some saves' and I did that."

Dallas gets offensive contributions from all over the ice, with a pair of Finns leading the way. Mikko Rantanen is pacing the team - and sits inside the yop 10 in NHL scoring - with 28 points, while Miro Heiskanen's 19 points from the blueline are tied for fourth among NHL defenceman leaders.

And they're particularly deadly on the powerplay. The Stars are one of only two NHL clubs clicking above 30% on the man advantage.

3. Fast Facts

2025-26 Season Series

Tonight's game marks the first of three meetings this season between Calgary and Dallas, and the first of two to take place at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The Stars will visit again March 3, before the season series closes out April 7 in the Lone Star State.

Dallas took all three meetings between the two sides last season, the most recent of which came in the form of a 5-2 victory March 27 at the 'Dome.

Did You Know?

One is the loneliest number, but four is proving to be a pretty happy total for the Flames.

Wednesday's win over the Sabres marked the 40th consecutive win for Calgary when scoring four or more goals, the longest-such streak in the NHL.

4. More Mort

Centre Sam Morton met the media Friday in the team's return to Calgary after logging impressive outings on the fourth line over the Flames' two-game road swing.

Head Coach Ryan Huska referred to Morton as 'probably, his team's best player' during his 2025-26 Flames debut - a game that saw him win eight of nine draws and deliver five hits.

A feather in the cap for the Coloradan pivot, but Morton isn't letting it get to his head.

"It’s encouraging, just try to keep doing what makes you successful," he said Friday after practice. "I think it’s a good building block that I want to keep trying to progress with."

Now three games into his NHL career - Morton scored the game-winner in his debut in last season's finale - the 26-year-old is keeping eyes wide open, as he continued Friday putting in reps on a unit with newcomer John Beecher and Adam Klapka.

"It’s just different, like I think it’s a little more structured," he said of the jump to NHL pace from the American League. "It’s faster because people are in the right spot all the time.

"I’ve only played three games now, so I’m still trying to figure it out, still learning, but that’s my take on it so far."

But one thing's for sure.

Now that he's here in the NHL, Morton is going to do everything asked of him to make sure he stays.

"It’s exciting, obviously, the goal is to stay in the lineup for every game," he said of this week's call-up.

"Just keep trending in that direction."

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Joel Farabee

Farabee said post-game Wednesday that he enjoys playing at Buffalo's KeyBank Center.

And why not? The Syracuse, N.Y. product had plenty of friends and family on hand Wednesday night to watch him score two goals, one off a nifty cross-crease feed, the other on a breakaway as part of Calgary's four-goal third period.

Exactly the type of game to build off, too, for Farabee, who has done an admirable job this season of getting to the right areas when chasing offence.

According to NHL Edge, the league's advanced stats engine, 32 of Farabee's 42 shots on goal this season have come from high-danger or mid-range locations, or in simpler terms, between the face-off dots in the offensive zone.

Stars - Jason Robertson

Safe to say, Robertson has caught fire.

He comes into tonight's game with goals in each of his last five games, putting home an eye-popping nine tallies and 13 points during that span.

Robertson's 26 points rank second among Dallas skaters, trailing only Mikko Rantanen, who leads the club with 28.