5 Things – Flames vs. Sabres

1. Pedal To The Metal

They’re doing alright.

And to continue borrowing from Sniff ‘n’ The Tears, they’re ready for a little jiving on a Thursday night.

As scoreboard-watching season begins to take effect – with admittedly a LOT of hockey left to play – the Flames find themselves in a bit of a ‘Driver’s Seat’ in the Western Conference wild card race ahead of a visit from the Buffalo Sabres. GET TICKETS

Calgary holds the final wild card berth, and has games in hand on both Vancouver and St. Louis (both of whom are a point off the Flames’ 51-point pace to date), but more importantly, seven of the club’s next 10 games will be contested on home ice.

Only two Western Conference teams – the Kings and Jets – have suffered fewer regulation home-ice losses than Calgary this season, and after two days of brisk practices, the prevailing message coming from the Flames dressing room has been one bent on taking advantage of this upcoming home-heavy schedule.

“We want to go into this 4 Nations break with as much separation as we can get,” forward Blake Coleman explained Wednesday. “We’ve got seven home games and three road games comin’ up. We’ve got a lot of good teams coming, but it’s a good opportunity for us to try to put some separation in the standings.

“Obviously, the way hockey is – and 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 into the playoffs. There’s never going to be a time to relax, but knowing that we have these 10 games, and then a little bit of time to reset, allows us to kinda put the gas down a little bit.”

Coleman’s doing his part, too.

After that three-point effort Saturday night in Winnipeg, the Texas Tiger has upped his January totals to eight points (2G, 6A) in eight contests, leading the club in scoring since the calendar flipped to 2025.

Leading by example, but for head coach Ryan Huska, Coleman is as even-keeled and reliable a player as he has on his roster.

And that veteran savvy – not to mention the Stanley Cup pedigree – will prove beneficial down the stretch.

“He’s always the same player. Not really much changes about his game,” Huska said of Coleman. “It always seems to me the bigger the game, or the quality of the situation – he raises his level all the time.

“That’s what you love about him, and that’s why he’s such an important player in our room.”

So for Coleman and his teammates, there really is no place like home.

And after a mini reprieve from a busy January schedule, it’s time to get back at it, in front of the C of Red.