5 Things - Flames vs. Mammoth

1. Home Fires Burning

They sent the fans home with smiles on their faces Thursday against Minnesota.

And the Flames will look to do it again in an early Saturday start, as Calgary goes in search of their third home win on the spin against Utah, with puck drop set for 5 p.m. MT. GET TICKETS

Now 5-4-2 on home ice, the Flames have collected points in four straight Scotiabank Saddledome fixtures, as well as in six of their last seven contests under the Saddle, a run dating back to Oct. 22.

But what stood out Thursday, according to forward Matt Coronato, was his group's compete level. Faced with eight minutes in penalties to kill off in the first period, his group buckled down and did the job, before the offence woke up and broke a deadlock in the third period.

"We play really hard as a group, but I think we’re playing smart and putting the two together," Coronato said Friday. "I think (Thursday) night was one of our best efforts."

Tonight, they'll aim to replicate that effort against a Utah team that's given them fits since they came into existence at the start of last season. The Flames have yet to earn a victory against the Hockey Club / Mammoth, though only one of their prior four encounters has taken place inside the friendly confines of the 'Dome.

The Utahns will be coming in hot, too. The Mammoth were in action Friday night in Vancouver and tonight marks the final outing in a season-long, six-game road trip that started with three defeats before a lopsided 7-0 shutout win in Anaheim on Wednesday.

But regardless of the opponent - or their travel schedule - Coronato and Co. are eager to dictate the play, much like they did against Minnesota.

And according to the young winger, it all starts with pace.

"I think we need to play fast," he said. "When we’re moving our feet and moving pucks quick, that’s when we’re at our best.

"Whether it’s stretching it out, or just having speed through the middle, it’s a really important piece for us."

2. Know Your Enemy

Utah comes to town on the heels of two straight wins, the latest of which came in the form of a 4-1 triumph Friday night in Vancouver. Mikhail Sergachev and Kevin Stenlund had a goal and an assist apiece, while Karel Vejmelka turned aside 31 of the 32 shots he faced between the pipes.

"They had a lot of shots, Veggie (Vejmelka) was on top of his game tonight," Sergachev told reporters after the game. "We had some big blocks and when we had our chances, we scored.

"That’s what you want to see from your team. You defend well, and when you have a chance to score, you score."

Clayton Keller leads the team with 26 points, while four Utah skaters are into double-digits in goals - led by Logan Cooley's 14.

Vejmelka has started 22 of the club's 29 games to date, posting a 12-7-2 record, while fellow Czech Vitek Vanecek joined the team as his running mate this season after winning a Stanley Cup with the Panthers last June.

The Mammoth enter play four points back of the Wild for the third seed in the Central Division.

3. Fast Facts

2025-26 Season Series

Tonight marks Utah's first visit to the Scotiabank Saddledome as the Mammoth, and the second encounter of the campaign between the two sides. JJ Peterka's breakaway goal stood up as the winner in the first meeting, a 3-1 Mammoth victory Oct. 15 at the Delta Center; Rasmus Andersson counted the Flames marker.

After tonight's game, the two sides will meet once more during the regular season, but that won't come until Apr. 12 at the 'Dome.

Did You Know?

Calgary's Morgan Frost and Utah's Barrett Hayton were teammates for three seasons with the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, and competed together with Canada at the 2019 World Juniors. Frost led the Greyhounds in scoring during two of their campaigns together, posting 112 points in 2017-18 and 109 points in 2018-19.

Together, the pair were also two of the three most recent first-round NHL picks to come out of the Soo (Frost was selected at No. 27 in 2017, Hayton at No. 5 in 2018) before the Nashville Predators took forward Brady Martin fifth-overall this past June.

4. It Was All Yellow

"He looked good on the ice today."

That, from Head Coach Ryan Huska, after defenceman Zayne Parekh took part in Friday's skate while wearing a yellow non-contact jersey.

It was the first ice-time for Parekh with his Flames teammates since he was injured Nov. 7, a ramping-up of activity before he heads to Minnesota to compete for Canada at the World Juniors.

According to Huska - and for Parekh's return to play program - it was a big step in the right direction.

"Really positive for Zayne. I know it sucks when you’re here by yourself and the team’s on a long road trip, especially for a young guy, really nobody to hang out with," the bench boss explained. "He’s put in a lot of work, he’s feeling much better.

"It was really good to see him on the ice, and hopefully we’ll progress him so he’s not wearing the yellow jersey anymore, sooner rather than later."

In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Parekh is sure to be leaned upon as one of Canada's key contributors, in their bid to capture their first gold medal since the 2023 tournament in the Maritimes.

For Huska, Parekh could use the event as a springboard toward the second half of the NHL season, too.

"It should be a confidence-builder for him. You’re going into a pressure-packed tournament where the games are unreal; the intensity that these games get played at, the crowds that are involved, there’s a lot of pressure," Huska explained. "It’s very similar to what a young player faces at the NHL level, the difference being you’re playing against peers that are your age, you’re physically able to handle the guys that you’re going to be playing against.

"I think it gives him an opportunity to go and be the best version of himself, to help the team win a gold medal, and I think when he does that, it gives him the opportunity to come back feeling really good about where his game is at."

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Connor Zary

The third-year Flame is coming off an impressive performance against the Wild, one that saw him pot a silky insurance marker in the third period, while unleashing six shot attempts at the Minnesota net over his 13:13 of work.

It's the type of performance that Zary's head coach would love to see bottled up and sold in stores.

"I liked the pace that he played the game at, that was the big thing for me," Huska commented Friday. "Sometimes you want players to watch their games after the fact without a coach beside them. If I could try to cement one in his head as to the game that you’re capable of playing every night, that would be an example of it.

"That’s a game that I want Connor to remember, because he had good pace to his game, I thought he was very strong on the puck. Whether he scored or not, he had an excellent game, and that’s what we want to keep seeing from him."

Mammoth - Nick Schmaltz

The 29-year-old scored the winner for Utah Friday in Vancouver - his 11th goal of the campaign - and Schmaltz enters play Saturday just one point off the team scoring lead.

The five-time 20-goal scorer is well on his way to eclipsing the career-best 63 points he logged for the Utahns a season ago.

He centred the Mammoth's top line against the Canucks Friday, with Clayton Keller and JJ Peterka on his wings.