5 THINGS - FLAMES @ CANUCKS

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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm (13)
Goals - Gaudreau (7)
Canucks:
Points - Quinn Hughes (17)
Goals - Brock Boeser (9)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 24.5% (11th) / PK - 78.6% (21st)
Canucks:
PP - 17.5% (18th) / PK - 80.6% (14th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 53.10% (6th)
High-Danger Chances: 54.35% (8th)
Canucks:
Shot Attempts: 46.64% (29th)
High-Danger Chances: 44.88% (27th)

1. LAST TIME OUT

It was the most complete effort of the season.
In fact, it was utterly dominant.
Sixty minutes of near-impeccable hockey, complete with a late goal to secure victory and avoid the dreaded three-point game.
You know the old saying that not all shots are not created equal?
Here's why:
The shot clock said it was a close game - and, for much of the night, the scoreboard did, too. But with the Flames out-chancing the Jets 24-10, including a retina-searing 12-1 margin from the high-danger areas, it was only a matter of time for the locals to make bank.
In the end, it was the powerplay that came through in the clutch, delivering a late strike off the stick of the sharp-shooting Elias Lindholm, to send the Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Andrew Mangiapane and Byron Froese (his first as a Flame) also had goals for the homeside, while Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves.
This was the elusive, 60-minute effort the Flames have been talking so much about recently - and to bring it against a Winnipeg club that has given them fits this year, it certainly bodes well as the Flames enter a crucial stretch of four straight against the struggling Vancouver Canucks.
"I really felt it was a good effort by our guys all the way through," said Head Coach Geoff Ward. "If it wasn't a complete 60, it was close to it. We'll take that game, we're happy with it, and we've got to try and build something with it.
"I think the biggest thing for us is that we've got to take it one game at a time. We know that they're going to be really, really prepared to come out and play a really hard hockey game, and we've got to get ourselves ready to match that. ... This division is so close, the teams are all good, and if you let your guard down, start feeling too good about yourself or start getting complacent, it can bite you."

2. THE OTHER SIDE

The Canucks have played a lot of hockey - more than anyone else in the NHL with 16 games in the first 27 days of the season.
Unfortunately for the Travis Green-led outfit, they have almost nothing to show for it.
With Calgary's win over the Jets on Tuesday, the Flames are now one point up on the Canucks with four games in hand.
Vancouver is coming off a 3-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday and has come out on the wrong end in four straight while being out-scored 25-10.
Ouch.
Yes, it's early - but it isn't a stretch to say the Canucks' playoff hopes rest in these next four against Calgary.
The tough schedule has been a source of "frustration" for the Canucks head coach, and says getting some practice time already on this homestand has been vital for his group.
"I think it's been brutal," Green said of the busy first quarter. "It's a lot of games - 10 games on the road - but we own the losses. I do think the schedule has played a part in our start. I think it's cost us a point, two, three, I don't know how many. But I think it's affected our group physically in a couple ways. ... We play a high-energy, direct game. And I think it's very structured, we want structure in our game, and we haven't been able to get to it because of the schedule.
"You work on your structure, your details, in practice. We've been trying to show it in video, but you need to run through it - especially early in the season.
"Since the first day of the season, this was our fourth practice. … I think any team needs some practice time, but especially one that has some new players, new defencemen on it. It has been a little bit frustrating, so it was good to get out and practice today (Wednesday)."

3. OLD DIGS

Having already played the Canucks in the second and third games of the season, Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Josh Leivo and Louis Domingue have already buried the first-game jitters.
But a walk through the corridors at Rogers Arena will certainly stir the memory bank and bring a flood of emotions right back to the surface.
This was home for more than 20 years, combined.
"I'm excited," Markstrom said prior to Wednesday's flight to the West Coast. "It's going to be fun. A little bit special, but I feel like the first game we played here was the weirdest one. It's going to be tough to beat that. Now, we're a bit into the season and you get used to the game and being here and playing for the Flames.
"Obviously, the friends," the puck-stopper added about what he enjoyed most about his seven years tending twine for one of Calgary's biggest rivals. "It's both old teammates and also friends in the city. The people there, they always treated me with respect and it's different (during COVID) not to be able to see anyone. But it is what it is, we're there on a business trip, to play hockey, and hopefully win some games."

Tanev, meanwhile, spent 10 years in a Canucks uniform and was known affectionally as 'Dad' in the Vancouver locker-room, thanks to his close, mentor-protégé relationship with now-sophomore defenceman Quinn Hughes.
While he, too, expects it to be emotional, he's happy to have the first couple of games out of the way already.
"It's obviously going to be a little different," Tanev said. "I'm going to see a lot of faces that I've grown to like around the arena for quite some time. But I think as the game progresses, it's just going to be another game. And it's an important game for us at this (juncture) of the season.
"We feel if we go out and play our game, no one can beat us. … We're going to be playing a desperate team who's lost a few in a row. But they're a really skilled team and they're going to be ready to go (tonight)."

4. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - Byron Froese
March 6, 2018. That was the last time Byron Froese racked up a National Hockey League goal.
That is, until Tuesday.
The 29-year-old veteran of 112 NHL games tallied his first as a Flame when he redirected a Juuso Valimaki point shot past Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
Head Coach Geoff Ward had plenty of praise for the Winkler, Man., native in his post-game press conference:
"This guy is a good hockey player," he said. "He's extremely smart, he plays the game the right way, he's defensively very sound and he lets the rink work for him. He's a reliable player and I thought that line was excellent tonight. We thought we could play them against any of the lines. But to see him and that line get rewarded for the work they've been putting in was awesome."
Froese, who initially drew into the lineup due to the injury to Derek Ryan, played 7:32 in Tuesday's victory.

Canucks - Quinn Hughes
Hughes is a team-worst -13, but is every bit the free-wheeling, offensive dynamo that took the league by storm last year.
The 21-year-old has one goal and 17 points - including nine on the powerplay - to lead all skaters, and is tops on the team with an average ice time of 22:16.

5. GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

On Wednesday, the Flames recalled 23-year-old AHL All-Star Glenn Gawdin to the taxi squad, while assigning defenceman Michael Stone to the Stockton Heat. Gawdin, who is expected to challenge for a full-time roster spot in the not-to-distant future, had 16 goals and 47 points to lead Calgary's AHL affiliate last year.
Speaking of the Heat: The California-based AHL club, who will be playing out of the Scotiabank Saddledome this year, released a
preliminary schedule
the other day. Their abbreviated 2019-20 season kicks off on Feb. 21 as they open a four-game series against the Toronto Marlies.