5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. AVALANCHE

FLAMES (31-22-9: 71 pts.) vs AVALANCHE (32-23-5: 69 pts.)

1. US

The Flames return home following a 5-2 win over the Coyotes on Thursday night. Derek Stepan put Arizona up 1-0 less than a minute into the game before the Flames scored five straight goals. Gaudreau led the team with a goal and two assists while Sam Bennett added a single and an assist playing on the top line with Gaudreau and Monahan. Monahan scored his 28th of the season and the eventual game-winner on a second-period powerplay, while Mark Jankowski netted a shorthanded tally for his third goal in two games against the Coyotes this season. Matthew Tkachuk added his 24th of the year before Kevin Connauton closed out the scoring with his sixth of the season for Arizona. Jon Gillies made 35 stops for his first win of the season as the Flames rebounded from a loss in Vegas on Wednesday to earn a split on their back-to-back road trip … Antti Raanta made 33 saves in defeat ... Arizona had their four-game winning streak snapped.

2. THEM

The Avalanche battled back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a single point on the road in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Oilers on Thursday night. Leon Draisaitl and Zack Kassian gave the Oilers a two-goal lead before Samuel Girard cut the advantage to one on his third goal of the season with 19 seconds left in the second period. Colin Wilson netted his sixth of the campaign 50 seconds into the third frame to force overtime. Connor McDavid tallied the game-winner with his 27th of the year 2:19 into the extra frame. Semyon Varlamov made 43 saves in the loss while Cam Talbot had 28 stops to collect the win … The Avalanche went to overtime for the second straight game … Colorado is 4-5-1 in its last 10 games.

3. US vs. THEM

This is the second of three regular-season meetings between the Flames and Avalanche. The Flames took the first game of the series with a 3-2 win in Denver back on Nov. 25. Dougie Hamilton and Mikko Rantanen traded powerplay goals before Micheal Ferland and Mikael Backlund netted even-strength tallies to put the Flames up 3-1 after 40 minutes. Nikita Zadorov cut the Flames lead one late in the third period, but the Avalanche couldn't find the equalizer as David Rittich made 24 saves for his first NHL win. Jonathan Bernier allowed three goals on 28 shots in the loss. Backlund drew an assist on Hamilton's powerplay marker and leads the Flames with two points against Colorado this season. Zadorov, Rantanen, MacKinnon (1A) and Mark Barberio (1A) are tied for the Avalanche lead with a single point each against the Flames so far this year.
The Flames will visit Denver on Feb. 28 for the final instalment of the season series.

4. THIS, THAT & THE OTHER

This: The Flames continued their strong powerplay performance against Arizona, scoring at least once on the man-advantage for the fifth straight game … Hamilton has three powerplay goals and two powerplay assists over that span ... That:Jankowski scored the Flames fourth shorthanded tally of the season and first since Dec. 2 … The Flames are 3-1-0 when they score a shorthanded goal… It was the first shorthanded marker of Jankowski's career ... The Other:The Flames have more wins against the Central Division than any other division this season … They are 10-5-2 against Central Division opponents.

5. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames: C Sam Bennett
Glen Gulutzan put the 2014 fourth-overall pick on the top line with Monahan and Gaudreau in Thursday's game against the Coyotes, and Bennett rewarded his head coach's faith with a goal and an assist. It was his fourth two-point game of the season and fifth multi-point effort after posting a goal and three assists against the Canucks on Dec. 17. Bennett is now up to five points (2G+3A) in his last seven games and will look to continue building momentum. He has nine goals and 23 points in 62 games for the Flames this season.
Avalanche: C Nathan MacKinnon
Despite being held pointless in two of his first three games back from injury - in both instances against the Oilers - the 22-year-old pivot posted a goal and three assists on Feb. 20 against the Canucks, giving him 25 goals and 65 points on the season. MacKinnon amassed nine goals and 21 points in 13 games from Dec. 29 to Jan. 30 before he was sidelined with an injury that forced him to miss Colorado's next eight games. At the time of his injury, MacKinnon's 61 points were good for was second in the NHL. He now sits tied for 12th in league scoring and leads the Avalanche in goals, assists (40), points, powerplay goals (9), game-winning goals (8), overtime goals (3) and shots (178) and sits second on his team with 22 powerplay points.