Buffalo Sabres (18-24-5) at Calgary Flames (22-16-7)
When: Thursday, 7 p.m. MT, Scotiabank Saddledome
TV: Sportsnet One. Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan
Odds: Flames -140, Sabres +116
The buzz
The Flames have been idle since Saturday’s 3-1 upset of the Winnipeg Jets and yet, despite that longer-than-usual layoff, have maintained their hold on the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference. The Sabres did them a solid Tuesday — when the boys from Buffalo battled back for a 3-2 victory in Vancouver, it prevented the Canucks from leapfrogging the Flames in the race. That result should provide a reminder that the Saddledome hosts can’t take the Sabres lightly, even if they are sitting dead last in the Eastern Conference standings.
For the Flames, fresh off a four-game road trip, this is a brief pit stop at home before they once again pack their suitcases for a weekend back-to-back in Minnesota and Winnipeg.
The quote
“It’s early to be scoreboard-watching and looking at the standings in that way, but you’d have to be blind not to be paying attention to it. Obviously, we want to go into this 4 Nations break with as much separation as we can get. I think we have seven home games and three road games coming up and we have a lot of good teams coming, but it’s a good opportunity for us to try to put some separation in the standings. The parity in this league, it’s going to be a dogfight all the way down the stretch, whether it’s for seeding or just getting in the playoffs, so there’s never going to be a time to relax. But knowing we have these 10 games and then a little bit of time to reset, it allows us to kind of put the gas down a little bit.”
— Flames winger Blake Coleman, sizing up the 10 games remaining before the NHL pauses for the 4 Nations Face-Off
The news
• After Walker Duehr was claimed off waivers by the San Jose Sharks, the Flames are expected to recall a forward on Thursday morning from the AHL’s Wranglers. Dryden Hunt seems the most likely candidate, although Adam Klapka or William Stromgren are also potential options.
• The Sabres won the first meeting of the season between these clubs, celebrating a 3-2 shootout victory in mid-November in Buffalo.
• Flames right-winger Andrei Kuzmenko finally snapped out of a 28-game goal-scoring drought with a power-play marker in Winnipeg, although he’s still stalled on zero even-strength snipes on the season.
• Sabres rookie Jiri Kulich, a 20-year-old from Czechia, equaled his career-high with a three-point pop-off in Vancouver.
• Held Tuesday, the 18th edition of the Calgary Flames Ambassadors’ Celebrity Poker Tournament raised a record-setting $610,000 for the Flames Foundation. Jon Molyneux of Concorde Group won the first-place prize, while Kevin Bahl was the last of the skating stars to be eliminated.
• Thursday marks Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night at the Saddledome. Among the highlights, four members of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) will rappel down from the rafters to deliver the game puck and proceeds from the 50/50 raffle will be directed to Support our Troops and the Military Family Resource Centre in Calgary.
The projected lineup
Forwards
Huberdeau-Kadri-Pospisil
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Kerins-Sharangovich-Kuzmenko
Lomberg-Rooney-Pelletier
Defence
Bahl-Andersson
Weegar-Miromanov
Bean-Pachal
Goalies
Wolf
Vladar
The injuries
Sophomore centre Connor Zary is out indefinitely due to a knee injury. Also on injured reserve are Justin Kirkland and Anthony Mantha, who are both lost for the season.
In case you missed it
Are you on Team Tank? As Danny Austin writes, the Sabres are a cautionary tale.