1. Finish Strong

The Flames see the opportunity in front of them.

And to a man, they know how sweet that plane ride home will feel if they’re able to conclude this three-game road trip with five out of a possible six points.

Standing in their way, the Buffalo Sabres, with the KeyBank Center providing the stage for a Saturday afternoon matinee – or required brunch viewing, depending on which side of the continent you’re on.

Head Coach Ryan Huska’s seen a lot of good things from his group – tenacity being at the forefront of it, given all three points on the trip have been earned by way of the comeback – but he’s hopeful his charges are saving their best for last on this trip through the East.

“We’ve put ourselves in a position to have a winning road trip,” he said Friday. “I think that’s important for us, that we do everything we can to make that become reality. We’re playing against a team that’s probably feeling really good about itself right now, too.

“I think the challenge for us, as always, will be making sure that we’re committed to playing the right way, and doing it for 60 minutes here.”

Defenceman Kevin Bahl continues to be a pleasant surprise on the Flames blueline following a June trade with the New Jersey Devils.

Billed as a steady, stay-at-home blueliner, Bahl’s already more than halfway toward matching his point total from last season, and he earned another important primary assist Thursday night, on Nazem Kadri’s equalizer in Boston.

But if you ask the 6-foot-6 rearguard, it all starts with defence, both for him and his teammates.

“I think we’re playing a good, hard, defensive game right now,” he said Friday. “If we can just keep that up, and just be opportunistic when things come our way, we’ll have some success.”

Huska, meanwhile, is mindful of what Saturday’s hosts have to offer.

Buffalo enters play with the same record that Boston had when they welcomed the Flames to TD Garden Thursday night.

The Calgary bench boss knows his group will have to keep focused, right from the drop of the puck.

“They’re a very skilled team that’s got some size, they play the game with speed,” he said. “They’re one of the more dangerous teams, in our opinion, in the way they can play the game.

“Powerplay is scary, when it gets feeling good about itself, so making sure we stay out of the box is going to be important for us.”

Bahl’s old coach from New Jersey, Lindy Ruff, is the man in charge in Buffalo; the big man was coy when asked about whether his old coach will employ a similar game plan with the Sabres as he did with the Devils.

All he knows for sure, is that he and his Flames mates will have to be ready from the drop of the puck, to make sure they can kick their feet up once they board the flight home Saturday evening.

“It kind of takes us a bit to get going, and then we really start to play our game,” he said.

“But if we get better on the starts, and play that same brand of hockey that we are in the second and third, I think we can have a real good finish to this road trip.”

2. Know Your Enemy

The Sabres have enjoyed a pretty good week so far, outscoring their opponents 11-2 in wins over the Senators and Rangers.

Thursday night in New York City, 15 different Buffalo players found the scoresheet in a 6-1 romp. The Sabres broke the game open with three goals in a span of 2:12 midway through the second period.

Despite the pair of lopsided scores, coach Lindy Ruff cautioned against his players getting too high, imploring them to instead focus on the process, as the Sabres (6-7-1) continue their ascent in the Atlantic Division.

“We’ve just got to really try to kind of stay humble and know what the recipe is for winning,” Ruff told Sabres.com Tuesday. “Which is a four-line game, doing the right things above the puck where we’re not giving up odd-man rushes, which I thought (for) 90% of the game tonight we did a good job.”

Two years on from a 47-goal season, forward Tage Thompson is the offensive leader for the Blue and Gold.

He’s scored in back-to-back games, and now has nine goals and 16 points over his 14 appearances in 2024-25.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has earned the lion’s share of the starts in goal for Buffalo; he has been the goaltender of record in all but one of the Sabres’ wins and boasts a .909 save percentage over 10 appearances.

Buffalo begins its three-game homestand having won four of their last six games at the KeyBank Center, a stretch that includes victories over the high-flying Dallas Stars and the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

2024-25 Stats

3. Fast Facts

2023-24 Season Series

The two teams met twice last season, with the road team coming away winners on each occasion.

Calgary’s visit to Buffalo took place in October of 2023, a see-saw affair that saw the Flames lead the game on four separate occasions en route to a 4-3 win.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Blake Coleman were among the Calgary goal-getters, while Dan Vladar made 24 saves in goal.

The Sabres won the return engagement on March 24 by a 4-1 final score. Huberdeau had the lone Flames goal.

After today’s game, the two teams will meet once more this season, January 23, 2025 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Did You Know?

Nazem Kadri tied Tuesday’s game in Boston with a goal at 9:55 of the third period, a tally that moved him into a tie with Huberdeau for the team lead in goals.

But did you know – and now you do, thanks to Flames PR guru Jordan Bay – that four of Kadri’s five goals have come in the third period?

He’s used to coming through in big moments. Eight of Kadri’s 58 goals as a Flame have been game-winners.

4. Lineup Notes

Here’s how the Flames lined up during Friday’s practice, with the team’s final lineup for Saturday’s contest set to be determined during the pregame warmup:

Forwards

Connor Zary – Nazem Kadri – Yegor Sharangovich
Jonathan Huberdeau – Martin Pospisil – Andrei Kuzmenko
Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Rooney – Justin Kirkland
Dryden Hunt

Defencemen

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

Goaltenders

Dustin Wolf
Dan Vladar

5. Players To Watch

Flames – Martin Pospisil

Pospisil skated back in the middle Friday during a brief Flames practice at LECOM HarborCenter alongside Jonathan Huberdeau and Andrei Kuzmenko, and while we’re not going to see actual line combinations until pregame warmup on Saturday, the Slovak forward has proven to be adaptable.

Should that trio stick, Pospisil’s role will be to create space for Huberdeau and Kuzmenko, but also to use his speed and physicality to dislodge pucks from tight corners, and players from their feet.

He’s recorded five or more hits in three of his last five games.

Sabres – J.J. Peterka

The young German star is on pace for a career year in this, his third full season with the Sabres.

Peterka scored twice Tuesday night against Ottawa and has totalled 12 points (6G, 6A) in as many games this season.

He had nine goals against the Pacific Division last year – two of which came against Calgary – and has started 2024-25 with a 20.7% shooting efficiency.