Buckle up.
To say that the stakes are high for today’s showdown between the slipping Calgary Flames and the sliding Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena would be an understatement.
The two combatants tonight have been greatly defined by their records through March.
For Calgary, who is 2-2-3 on the month, we’re seeing a ditch turn into a valley. That record, despite the amount of losses, is .500. Going back to the turn of the calendar, the Flames are 12-12-4 in the new year—also .500.
That number is not their friend. If they continue to go .500 for the rest of the season, they’ll finish with 88 points.
For Toronto, we’re seeing a late-season stumble that has Leafs fans beginning to sweat when it comes to who and where they’ll be playing in the playoffs.
The team is 2-4-1 in March and most recently has lost two straight to a red-hot Ottawa Senators group. They have the second-worst defence on the month at 4.14 goals against per game and the third-worst penalty kill rate at 63.2%.
The Leafs don’t need this game like the Flames do, but in order to shut down the noise, Mitch Marner, Jon Tavares, and the questionably healthy Auston Matthews will have to find a way to solve the most underrated star in the NHL.
At a Glance
Calgary Flames (30-24-11, 71 pts) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (39-24-3, 81 pts)
Last Ten: Calgary (4-3-3) Toronto (5-4-1)
Time: 5:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
TV: Amazon Prime
Calder Implications
Rookie netminder Dustin Wolf has a score to settle with Toronto.
A “Six”-based bastion of Calder-voting PHWA voters weren’t given much to vote for in the last instance of the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs playing against each other.
Wolf, 23, allowed five goals on 29 shots when the Leafs visited the Scotiabank Saddledome on Feb. 4, 2025. Toronto took the game 6-3 on the back of a Willie Nylander hat trick.
Like it or not, a contingent of Calder voters have only seen .828 Dustin Wolf.
Calgary holds the cards in the Western Conference Wildcard race. A 4-2 failed rally against Colorado was the team’s first loss in regulation in six games. The team went .700 over the previous five games.
Take the Leafs game and the Flames are in a playoff spot with three sputtering New York teams up next.
A loss to Toronto? Grips will be getting tight.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Courtesy of Derek Wills.
@Fan960Wills
Huberdeau-Kadri-Pospisil
Coleman-Frost-Coronato
Farabee-Sharangovich-Hunt
Lomberg-Rooney-Klapka
Hanley-Weegar
Bahl-Andersson
Bean-Pachal
Wolf (Starter)
Vladar
Old Faithful
It’s about time that Martin Pospisil was returned to the first forward unit. He does so much to generate turnovers for Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau.
On the other hand, it will be interesting to see how the second line gels.
Morgan Frost has been getting shuffled lately in an attempt to find where he fits in this lineup. Surely, Matthew Coronato will appreciate a shuffle as well; he doesn’t seem like a fit with Huberdeau and Kadri.
The first unit outscored the opposition 14-9 (60.9%) over 258.2 minutes of 5v5 with Martin Pospisil riding shotgun. They have been outscored 3-6 (33.33%) over 118.6 even strength minutes with Coronato there instead.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup
Courtesy of nhl.com writing staff.
Matthew Knies -- Auston Matthews -- Mitch Marner
Pontus Holmberg -- John Tavares -- William Nylander
Bobby McMann -- Max Domi -- Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz -- Scott Laughton -- Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly -- Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe -- Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Joseph Woll
Anthony Stolarz
Don't Miss It
A reminder that this one is an Amazon Prime exclusive. You owe it to yourself to catch how they capture warmups. It's truly glorious.
Game time is 5:30 p.m. MST. This one is on Prime.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»