5 Things - Flames vs. Predators

1. Saturday Night's Alright

The iconic improv TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway? was borne of the premise that "the games are made up, and the points don't matter."

Nothing could be further than the truth around the Scotiabank Saddledome these days, as the Flames go in search of their first points of 2025 against the Predators on Hockey Night in Canada. GET TICKETS

Every goal, every point, every inch in the standings is starting to become ever more important, as the calendar flips to the New Year and this upstart Calgary group continues to hang tough in a wild Western Conference.

The Flames sit one point back of the Canucks for the second wild card, after Vancouver dropped a home-ice decision to Nashville Friday night (more on that contest below).

But the Flames have enjoyed success against tonight's opponent this season, and this evening, they face a Predators club that played in Vancouver Friday, losing an hour of sleep, too, on the flight over from the West Coast.

Calgary is 2-2 against Nashville this season. The most recent encounter was less than a month ago, where the Flames gutted out a 4-3 victory at Bridgestone Arena, snapping a lengthy road losing streak in the process.

Forward Ryan Lomberg was asked about that contest Friday after a brisk open practice, and whether now, he and his teammates can look back on that win as a watershed moment.

"At that point in the season, the road wins were tough to come by … it was a big one," he said. "Obviously, we know where they’re at in the standings.

"Any night is a night for them to kinda turn their season around, we’ll be making sure that (Saturday’s) not the night."

Friday's Flames conversation also centred around goaltending.

Dustin Wolf will start between the pipes tonight - head coach Ryan Huska confirmed that in his media session - but he also discussed the platoon strategy that's been employed in goal this season.

Both Wolf and Dan Vladar have earned an even number of starts (19 each), and Vladar has played a total of 22 seconds more than has Wolf over the course of the season.

Huska hinted that could change as we move closer toward the second half of the campaign.

"I think you’ll see if there is some separation between one or the other guy, that someone’s going to get a little bit more regular starts, if you will," he said. "And I’m not saying you’re going to run a guy for 15 games, but two of three is most certainly something that we will start to look at."

Tonight will mark two of three for Wolf, for instance.

Huska noted there are several factors at play, when deciding who gets the call in goal on any given night, but as the stakes get higher, that decision might be more predicated on which netminder gives the club the best chance at a successful result.

"We still look at opponent, we still look at rest and recovery for goaltenders, but a lot of it comes down to finding ways to win games, too," said Huska. "The area that we’re in, every point, every game, every win is so very important, and if we have one of them that gets hot, I think it’s important that we can stay with him for a bit and then hey, if the other guy happens to get hot then we get to stay with that guy for a bit, too.

"But I do think that it’s important that we find a way to go with the guy that’s really feelin’ it."

Huska's handing the ball to Wolf tonight - so to speak.

The Californian has yet to surrender a goal against Nashville this season, and he's 10-1-1 in 2024-25 on Scotiabank Saddledome ice.

Much like the trust he would place in a starting pitcher, Huska is hopeful that Wolf will deliver more quality innings this evening.

2. Know Your Enemy

The Predators arrive in Calgary in the midst of a six-game road trip, and Nashville earned victory No. 1 on their current swing with a 2-0 shutout win in Vancouver Friday night.

Steven Stamkos scored the decider late in the second period, Gustav Nyquist and Colton Sissons added empty-netters, while Juuse Saros made 27 saves to earn his 27th career shutout.

The win was just the fourth for the Predators on the road in 21 tries, and their second over the Canucks this season.

Filip Forsberg leads Nashville with 31 points, and while he has not lit the lamp since Nov. 25, he still managed to earn 13 points in the month of December.

The goals leader in the Music City is Jonathan Marchessault with 14, and he's been hot of late, too; half of those goals have come since Dec. 17.

And that's a positive sign. The Preds have scored a league-low 94 goals this season, and along with Anaheim are one of only two NHL clubs not to hit triple digits in goals for in 2024-25.

But they've scored three or more goals in six of the last seven contests, and visit the Flames having earned at least a point in five of their last eight outings.

Friday's contest at Vancouver also marked a winning NHL debut for Calgarian Ozzy Wiesblatt, who won a WHL title with Flames defenceman Brayden Pachal and the Prince Albert Raiders in 2019.

Wiesblatt - selected in the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks - played 9:40 against the Canucks, recording two hits along the way.

3. Fast Facts

2024-25 Season Series

Tonight marks the final meeting of the regular season between Calgary and Nashville, with the Flames having won both of the prior two encounters in 2024-25.

Dustin Wolf earned his first career shutout in the first chapter of the season set, making 29 saves in a 2-0 Calgary victory at the 'Dome Nov. 15. Daniil Miromanov and Blake Coleman provided the offence for the hosts in the third period.

Dec. 10 in Nashville, the Flames erased three deficits en route to a 4-3 victory over the Predators. Jonathan Huberdeau's powerplay goal at 18:41 of the second period stood up as the decider, and both he and Kevin Rooney finished the contest with a goal and an assist.

Calgary has swept the season series from Nashville on three occasions: 2008-09, 2010-11 and 2014-15.

Did You Know?

Jonathan Huberdeau led the Flames with 15 points (8G, 7A) in the month of December, and historically, he's fared well against the Nashville Predators.

His goal at Nashville Dec. 10 was the 15th of his career against the Preds - coming in his 31st career meeting against the Music City bunch.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are the only NHL club against whom Huberdeau has lit the lamp more over the course of his career; he's scored 17 career markers against the Bolts.

4. Open Sesame

The Flames hosted an open practice for season ticket members Friday morning at the Scotiabank Saddledome - Head Coach Ryan Huska put his group through the paces, all while explaining drills and providing running commentary over the P.A. system to those in attendance.

Forward Ryan Lomberg was mic'd up, while Harvey the Hound and Blasty the Bronco showered fans with high-fives, handshakes - and popcorn!

On the ice, Calgary lined up like this:

FORWARDS

Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil
Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato
Jakob Pelletier - Connor Zary - Yegor Sharangovich
Ryan Lomberg - Kevin Rooney - Andrei Kuzmenko
Walker Duehr

DEFENCE

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

GOALTENDERS

Dan Vladar
Dustin Wolf

5. Players to Watch

Flames - Brayden Pachal

Pachal marked his 100th NHL contest with a go-ahead goal Thursday night against Utah, with his parents in the stands to see it.

The Estevan, Sask. product has become a mainstay on the Flames' third pairing with Jake Bean, and the results are there defensively, too.

Bean sits tops among Calgary defenders with a .957 on-ice save percentage (per Natural Stat Trick), but Pachal is ranked second at a cool .944.

And since December 1, the Flames have owned close to 58% of the scoring chances when Pachal is on the ice.

Predators - Steven Stamkos

He's starting to heat up.

Stamkos scored Friday night in Vancouver - his third goal in his last five games - and the veteran forward is starting to develop some chemistry in his new hockey home with the Predators.

The 34-year-old was one of the prized signings of free agency last July, and is up to 12 goals on the season after putting up 40 a year ago with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Stamkos had an assist the last time out against the Flames Dec. 10, and appeared in his 1,100th NHL game the last time Nashville visited the Scotiabank Saddledome in mid-November.