The Calgary Flames (16-11-7) return from their Christmas break with a two-minute road trip that begins Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks.

It will be the first time in his young career that Macklin Celebrini, the 2024 first round pick, plays against the Flames. Calgary recently played against top 2023 draft pick Connor Bedard, who scored his first goal against the club in a 6-4 loss.

Today’s game will be unforgettable for Dustin Wolf, born in Gilroy, California, a city about 35 minutes south of San Jose. For the 23-year-old, it is the first game against his “home” team.

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He is 10-5-2 this season with a 2.80 GAA and a .910 SV%. However, he is just 1-4-1 with a 4.16 GAA and a .862 SV%.

Against the other two California teams, the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, Wolf is 2-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and 0.921 SV%.

The Sharks plan to start rookie Yaroslav Askarov, who is 1-1-2 in four games since joining San Jose following a trade from the Nashville Predators last summer.

Additionally, Celebrini will look to continue his strong performance at home, where he has scored nine goals and 15 points in 12 games. A Calder Trophy front-runner, he has scored 11 goals and 26 points in 26 games, ranking fourth in team scoring.

As for their standings, Calgary (39 points) sits in fifth place in the Pacific Division and is two points behind the Vancouver Canucks for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference.

The Sharks (28 points) remain last in the Pacific Division and have the second-worst record in the NHL, but are the frontrunners to win the NHL Draft Lottery for the second straight year.

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Flames & Sharks leader

• Goals: Jonathan Huberdeau & Nazem Kadri (13) / Tyler Toffoli (14)

• Supports: MacKenzie Weegar (14) / Mikael Granlund (23)

• Points: Jonathan Huberdeau (25) / Mikael Granlund (34)

• PIM: Martin Pospisil (51) / Barclay Goodrow (32)

• PPG: Jonathan Huberdeau & Yegor Sharangovich (3) / William Eklund (4)

• LIKE G: Nazem Kadri (110) / Mikael Granlund (101)

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Here’s a breakdown of today’s lineup, according to the Flames staff at NHL.com. (subject to change)

FORWARD

Jonathan Huberdeau – Nazem Kadri – Martin Pospisil

Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato

Yegor Sharangovich – Connor Zary – Jakob Pelletier

Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Rooney – Walker Duehr

DEFENSE

Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson

Joel Hanley – Mackenzie Weegar

Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal

GOALKEEPER

Dustin Wolf

Dan Vladar

SCRATCH

Daniil Miromanov, Tyson Barrie, Andrei Kuzmenko

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Tonight is the first of four meetings between the Flames and Sharks in the 2024-25 season. These two clubs will meet again at the Saddledome on February 23rd before concluding their season series with two contests in April.

The game is available on NBCSCA, TVAS, CityTV, Sportsnet, CBC and Sportsnet+. The puck drops at 8 p.m. MT.