Calgary Flames (18-12-7, 43 pts) vs Utah Hockey Club (16-15-6, 38 pts)
Last Ten: Calgary (5-3-2) Utah (4-4-2)
Time: 7:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
TV: Sportsnet West, Utah 16, and Utah HC+
The Calgary Flames will try to build on a New Year's victory over the Vancouver Canucks tonight at the Scotiabank Saddledome against a spiraling Utah Hockey Club that has lost five consecutive outings.
While the crest on their jerseys may have changed, the Hockey Club appears to have an annual tradition of falling from grace.
The Coyotes of 2023-2024 held a respectable 23-19-3 record before a 14-game losing streak sent the group into lottery territory.
The year before, the team was 13-16-5 on Dec. 29, before a nine-game slide starting on Jan. 24 put them at 13-25-5.
Are the Coyotes/Hockey Club repeating history once again? Only time will tell. The story continues tonight at 7:00 p.m. MST.
History repeating itself isn’t an issue exclusive to the Hockey Club. The Calgary Flames find themselves once again jockeying for the final Wildcard spot in the Western Conference by the New Year.
This year’s Flames are in a much better spot year over year. On Jan. 1, 2024, the Flames were in 27th place with a 15-16-5 record.
The team went on to win eight of their next 10 to lock them into, well:
The good old
Ass Groove.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Courtesy of Pat Steinberg. @Fan960Steinberg
Huberdeau-Kadri-Pospisil
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Sharangovich-Zary-Pelletier
Lomberg-Rooney-Duehr
Bahl-Andersson
Hanley-Weegar
Bean-Pachal
Vladar
Wolf
The Hot Hand
The first line of Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, and MArtin Pospisil is currently firing. Huberdeau has four goals and two assists for six points in his last four games.
Kadri has two goals and three assists in that span and Pospisil has been effective at creating space for the two despite notching only once assist since Dec. 21.
That line came out gangbusters against the Canucks on Saturday night with a number of high danger opportunities in their first shift. The three contributed on the final two goals of the game.
Games That Matter
Trailing the Canucks by a point for the final Wildcard spot in the West, Saturday was Calgary’s most important game of this season to date.
With Vancouver now trailing by just one point and holding a game in hand, Calgary simply can’t afford to go on an extended losing streak.
Knowing the Flames, the next slide is just around the corner. The question will be: “How hard can they bounce back after that skid?”
Utah Hockey Club Projected Lineup
Courtesy of nhl.com.
Keller-Hayton-Schmaltz
McBain-Cooley-Guenther
O'Brien-Bjugstad-Crouse
Carcone-Stenlund-Kerfoot
Sergachev-Maatta
Cole-Kesselring
Valimaki-Bortuzzo
Vejmelka
Stauber
Game time is 7:00 p.m. MST.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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