1. Centre of Attention

Change can be a good thing.

And if Thursday’s Flames practice was any indication, Friday night’s contest against the Predators will see a new man in the middle – Connor Zary.

The Calgary sophomore took reps on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich, and was also tasked with face-off duty on the Flames’ top powerplay unit Thursday, all with the objective of trying to find a fit, with puck drop against the Predators slated for 7 p.m. MT. TICKETS

Moving to the middle isn’t always easy.

Sharangovich and Martin Pospisil have both had time at centre this season, but starting with the puck has been an area flagged for improvement; Calgary’s face-off percentage of 45.2% is ranked 30th in the NHL.

Head coach Ryan Huska explained Thursday, though, that there are subleties to playing the centre position that can make life that much more difficult for wingers.

“In my opinion, you’d rather have 12 forwards that are all centremen,” he said. “It’s so much easier to go and play on the wing. You can work on the wall work during practice, you can do all sorts of different little things, but being a centreman’s a different animal, for a lot of different reasons.

“Some of it’s the responsibility that comes with it, you’re expected to control the play a little bit more.”

Enter Zary, who Huska has referred to on at least one occasion as the Flames’ best forward over the opening month of the campaign.

He’s got the speed – Huska said Thursday that in his estimation, Zary is much faster than a year ago – but the sophomore forward also has the smarts to be able to think on the fly.

“We want him to control the play, a lot the same as he does as a winger,” Huska said of Zary, who sits tied for fifth among Calgary’s scoring leaders with eight points. “What comes with it is the added responsibility of, a lot of times you look to your centreman as an extra defenceman on the ice, so he has the extra responsibility.

“We don’t want him to get away from what he does well, we want him to continue to handle the puck, control the play, now you add a little bit of extra responsibility, so we want to make sure he’s capable of doing that.”

Pace is the name of the game, and it’s also Huska’s hope that a move back to the wing will benefit both Pospisil and Sharangovich, both of whom can create offensively, and both of whom have speed to burn.

“For someone like Marty, his greatest strength is the speed he plays the game at, and his ability to get in on a forecheck, and hurry decisions that defencemen make,” Huska explained. “Well, as a centreman, he’s sometimes lower coming out of our own zone, so he’s not able to get there.

“With Sharan, one of his best attributes is reading the play as to when to take off, coming out of our own zone, that allows him scoring opportunities. Now if he’s down lower in your own zone, he’s not in that same position. There’s pros and cons.”

With pace, comes energy, and a continued commitment to maintain it over a 60-minute span.

The Flames know all about the ebbs and flows of energy consumption over a back-to-back situation – after all, they’ve just experienced it, earning a split over their two-game set against the Kings and Canucks.

In Nashville, Calgary now faces an opponent that played a night ago, up the road in Edmonton.

A worthy opponent against whom to test out a new-look lineup.

For many, Friday night brings about the end of the work week, a time to kick up one’s feet and relax.

For the Flames, it’s the start of a four-game homestand.

It’s also time to kick things into gear.

2. Know Your Enemy

Nashville comes to town for their second matchup against an Alberta opponent in as many nights, after dropping a 3-2 overtime decision in Edmonton Thursday.

Darnell Nurse scored the winner 2:33 into the extra period, after Nashville forced OT with a late third-period equalizer off the stick of Cole Smith.

Michael McCarron had the other Predators goal, as Nashville fell to 5-9-3 on the season.

The Music City bunch made a huge splash in July free agency, landing longtime Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, former Golden Knights tsra Jonathan Marchessault, and ex-Hurricanes defensive stalwart Brady Skjei to bolster a lineup that had one of, if not the best stretch run in 2023-24.

But the new-look Nashville team has been slow out of the gate, winning just once from their first seven away contests this season.

They’re also the fourth-lowest scoring team in the NHL, with 41 goals to date – Filip Forsberg leads the way with eight markers so far in 2024-25.

But head coach Andrew Brunette is cognizant these are still early days, Thursday’s loss bringing about a learning lesson as his club continues its five-game road trip.

“Just try to keep building and maybe learning from experience here,” Brunette told reporters after the game in Edmonton. “These momentum times in the games, and we kind of hit a lull in our game where we’re just maybe a little bit slow on everything, and we ended up defending way too much.

“So, just understanding those points in the game for us, it’s been a grind here for us to go over that hump.”

McCarron, meanwhile, knows his group will have to dig deep to get points at the Scotiabank Saddledome, something they were not able to do in their lone visit to Calgary a season ago.

“Back-to-back on the road, it’s going to be a greasy game,” he told reporters. “For us, it’s going to have to be greasy, and we’re going to have to get some dirty goals.

“And I think that’s the way it’s going to be (Friday) night.”

2024-25 Stats

3. Fast Facts

2023-24 Season Series

Calgary took two of the three meetings from Nashville in 2023-24, including the lone contest at the Scotiabank Saddledome on November 7 of last year. Blake Coleman scored the decider early in the third period, helping the Flames erase a two-goal deficit en route to a 4-2 victory.

The Predators returned the favour with a 4-2 win of their own two weeks later.

Six different Flames scored in the rubber match Jan. 4 at Bridgestone Arena, as Calgary took home a 6-3 victory.

Coleman, Rasmus Andersson and Yegor Sharangovich all had a goal and an assist, while Dan Vladar earned the win in goal with 29 saves.

After tonight’s matchup, the Flames and Predators will meet twice more this season: Dec. 10 in Nashville, and Jan. 4 at the ‘Dome.

Did You Know?

If you’re a fan of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, you’ll be a fan of this matchup.

As many as five ex-Rockets could hit the ice tonight, with two more alumni behind the Calgary bench.

Flames forwards Mikael Backlund and Justin Kirkland, along with defenceman Tyson Barrie, all formerly skated for the Okanagan-based junior outfit, as did Predators forward Colton Sissons and defenceman Luke Schenn.

All were coached in Kelowna by Flames bench boss Ryan Huska – Barrie and Backlund won a WHL title with Huska as coach in 2009.

A few years later, Kirkland – who by the way, was drafted by the Predators in 2014 – was part of the 2015 Rockets club that won the Ed Chynoweth Cup with Dan Lambert as head coach.

Lambert, now in his second season as a Flames assistant coach, spent four seasons with Sissons in Nashville before arriving in the Stampede City in the fall of 2023.

4. Lineup Notes

The Flames deployed their forwards a bit differently at practice Thursday, with the aforementioned move to centre by Connor Zary standing out at the forefront.

He centred a trio alongside Jonathan Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich, while Martin Pospisil took his place alongside Nazem Kadri and Andrei Kuzmenko.

Zary and Matt Coronato both found themselves on the Flames’ top powerplay unit at practice, too, with Huberdeau, Sharangovich and MacKenzie Weegar rounding out the five.

Here’s how the Flames lined up Thursday for their session at the Scotiabank Saddledome:

Forwards

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

Defencemen

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

Goaltenders

Dan Vladar
Dustin Wolf

5. Players To Watch

Flames – Rasmus Andersson

He’s been an absolute workhorse to start the season, and Andersson continues to lead the Flames in scoring with 11 points.

His four goals are good for a share of second place among NHL blueliners, while his 24:37 average ice-time per game is second-most among Pacific Division blueliners, only to Quinn Hughes of the Canucks.

Andersson had a goal and a helper in the three meetings versus Nashville last season, his goal – Jan. 4 in the Music City – stood up as a game-winner, too.

Predators – Steven Stamkos

The future Hall-of-Famer signed a four-year, $32-million pact in Nashville after 16 seasons (and a pair of Stanley Cups) with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He makes his first visit to Calgary as a member of the Predators tonight, in what is slated to be his 1,100th career NHL game.

Over that span, he’s accured 1,145 points, while also winning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy on a pair of occasions after leading the NHL in goals in both 2009-10 and 2011-12.

He sits third among Predators scoring leaders to start the 2024-25 season, having collected four goals and eight points from his 17 appearances with Nashville.