Flames, with their fathers in tow, kick off a two-game road trip against the Desert Dogs and looking to build off Tuesday's comeback home win

Flames (18-18-5, 41 points) at Arizona Coyotes (20-17-2, 42 points)

While the city of Calgary is (not) enjoying an Arctic front, the Flames are soaking up sunshine in the desert — along with many of their fathers, siblings or even grandfathers — on a two-game trip with stops in Tempe and Las Vegas.

The Flames and their flickering playoff hopes look to build off Tuesday’s 6-3 comeback win over the moribund Ottawa Senators that snapped a two-game losing skid.

Calgary is currently two points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the Western Conference's second wild-card spot, with the Seattle Kraken, Coyotes and St. Louis Blues all between them.

The Nashville Predators hold the first wild-card spot, with a two-point edge on Edmonton, so tonight’s out-of-town scoreboard will be worth following, too.

The Flames lost their last meeting of the 2022-23 season 4-3 in overtime, but that snapped a seven-game winning streak against the Coyotes.

The Coyotes are also coming off a victory, a wild 4-3 overtime win over the Boston Bruins in which both teams claimed and surrendered leads. That win snapped a three-game losing skid, all during Arizona’s current homestand.

Here’s a look at Calgary’s expected lineup:
Forwards:
Jonathan Huberdeau-Elias Lindholm-Yegor Sharangovich
Andrew Mangiapane-Mikael Backlund-Blake Coleman
Connor Zary-Nazem Kadri-Martin Pospisil
A.J. Greer-Adam Ruzicka -Dillon Dube
Extra: Walker Duehr
Defence:
Noah Hanifin-Chris Tanev
Rasmus Andersson-MacKenzie Weegar
Jordan Oesterle-Nick DeSimone
Extra: Yan Kuznetsov
Goal:
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar
Markstrom has a career 9-3-3 career record against Arizona with a 2.10 goals-against average and .927 save percentage. Vladar has a 2-0-0 mark with a 2.51 GAA and .882 SvPct.

Here is the expected roster for the Coyotes based on reports from their morning skate:
Forwards:
Clayton Keller-Jack McBain-Nick Schmaltz
Matias Maccelli-Nick Bjugstad-Lawson Crouse
Jason Zucker-Logan Cooley-Dylan Guenther
Michael Carcone-Alex Kerfoot-Liam O’Brien
Defence:
J.J. Moser-Sean Durzi
Travis Dermott-Mathew Dumba
Troy Stecher-Michael Kesselring
Goal:
Karel Vejmelka
Connor Ingram
Vejmelka boasts a 0-4-0 record, 4.54 GAA and .889 SvPct. Ingram won his lone career meeting with the Flames, a 4-3 game last March in which he stopped 42 shots.

ICE CHIPS: Flames captain Mikael Backlund will play his 950th game, all with Calgary, which will move him into sole position on the franchise’s all-time games played list behind only Jarome Iginla (1,219) … Arizona RW Nick Schmaltz is riding a three-game goal-scoring streak … Flames C Nazem Kadri is on a four-game run in which he’s netted three goals and three assists … The Coyotes have a 5-2 record in overtime/shootout games, including a 2-0 mark in shootouts. Calgary is 3-5 overall, 0-4 in shootouts … Coyotes RW Dylan Guenther, the ninth overall pick in the 2021 draft, has scored in both his games since being summoned from the minors on the weekend … These teams meet twice more this season, both in Calgary, with the first clash next Tuesday.