5 THINGS - FLAMES @ SABRES

FLAMES (24-18-10) @ SABRES (26-20-4)

Saturday at 10:30 a.m. MT | TV: Sportsnet One | RADIO: Sportsnet 960 The FAN

2022-23 Season Series: 0-1-0

NEED-TO-KNOW
ONLINE 50/50
Purchase your online 50/50 tickets for a chance at some big cash!
GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
'Show That I Belong' - Pelletier
Projected Lineup
Photo Gallery - Practice in Buffalo
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
2022-23 Head-to-Head Stats
WANT TO WIN SOME CASH?!

Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Elias Lindholm (46)
Goals - Nazem Kadri, Tyler Toffoli (19)
Sabres:
Points - Tage Thompson (68)
Goals - Tage Thompson (34)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 19.0% (25th) / PK - 82.3% (6th)
Sabres:
PP - 25.3% (4th) / PK - 73.3% (29th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 56.03% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 51.59% (14th)
Sabres:
Shot Attempts: 52.16% (6th)
High-Danger Chances: 48.28% (23rd)
###

1. 'PRODUCTION' LINE
   It's time to get greasy.
   To "pay the price," as Blake Coleman so eloquently put it following a 2-1 loss on Thursday to the Red Wings.
   The Flames out-shot their eastern counterparts 36-17, but had a hard time getting to the middle of the ice, or in front of the net where many of the second- and third-chance opportunities lie.
   As the team returned to practice on Friday in Buffalo, that was the priority.
   "Come on, execute! Execute!" Darryl Sutter shouted as he ran his team through a series of drills focused on quick-ups and transitional offence, before closing out the half-hour skate with plenty of crashing and banging around the blue paint.
   "I know guys want to battle. I know guys want to get there," Dillon Dube said in the dressing room afterwards. "We have a lot of guys in here that know how to score goals and know how to get to the dirty areas. "I think we're getting there. … We're a shot-volume team and by doing that, we can create a lot of momentum with those loose pucks and rebounds in front.
   "But we've got to find a way to finish them.
   "Sometimes pucks are coming hard off the goalie and you've got to bat them out of midair or something. In situations like that, you can't really guess where the puck's going to go - and that makes working on it practice a bit tough because you can't totally replicate a game situation."
   But work on it, they did.
   Relentlessly, in fact.
   "Part of it, too, was that lot of our shots weren't even getting to the net last night, so the rebounds weren't there," Dube said.
   It would have been easy for the Flames to wake up and feel down about the situation they find themselves in this morning. They're currently tied for the final wild-card playoff spot, but are officially out on points percentage. With 30 games left, they know how crucial games like the one last night are in the grand scheme, and how it feels like they let an opportunity slip against a team in the bottom-third in the standings.
   But that was hardly the case.
   The Flames had a great practice and looked dialled in on their details, leaving the rink with plenty of good vibes.
   "We really want it to turn in the right direction and not want to get tight or nervous about it, but to have that intensity every day - that feeling that it matters," Dube said. "Even in practice, it matters. Our playoff time is now, to make that push. Every guy knows if we get rolling now, it's a good time to do it and we're not far out from it. You almost bring that as excitement for a lot of guys; there's a lot more energy and excitement coming around the rink these days. We had a really good skate today and it feels a little more intense every day you come in."
   Practice note: Rasmus Andersson - who was involved in a scooter accident on Wednesday in Detroit and did not play on Thursday against the Red Wings - did not skate on Friday.

2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY
The Sabres, who are playing their first game back from the bye week, were greeted with some good news at Friday's practice.
Tage Thompson was back on the ice as a full participant after suffering an upper-body injury in Buffalo's last game on Feb. 1, forcing the goal-scoring wizard to miss the NHL All-Star Game.
"It was nice to get a little rest there, a little time off, take care of the body and get ready to start the remaining of the season up," Thompson said.
Thompson said he was dealing with the injury for a couple days prior to the Feb. 1 clash with the Carolina Hurricanes, but a 'flare-up' halfway through the night forced his hand, exiting the game at the second intermission.
The Sabres lost the game 5-1 and are on a mini, two-game slide (0-1-1) after five straight.
### 3. FAST FACTS
TAKE THAT TO THE KEYBANK:
Going back to the 2017-18 season, the Flames are 4-0-0 at Buffalo, out-scoring the Sabres 15-6 in that span. In their most recent trip to KeyBank, Andrew Mangiapane had a pair of goals and was named the first star, while Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves in a 5-0 shutout win for the Flames.
DID YOU KNOW?
Nikita Zadorov was a first-round pick of the Sabres in the 2013 NHL Draft. He would go on to skate in 67 games over two seasons in Buffalo, scoring four goals and 12 assists for 16 points.
Trevor Lewis played his first NHL game in Buffalo at the KeyBank Center (then, the HSBC Arena) back on Dec. 19, 2008.
Stick tap to Flames Public Relations Coordinator Jordan Bay for compiling these notes.
Follow him and the Flames PR team @FlamesPR on Twitter for more.
### 4. PLAYERS TO WATCH
Flames - Blake Coleman
With goals in three straight and 11 points (5G, 6A) in as many games, overall, Coleman has been on quite a tear of late for the Flames.
With so much talk over the last 24 hours about the team's offensive production Coleman - along with his equally greasy, lunch-pail linemates, Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane - has been the poster boy for how to do things the right way.
"His line, very efficient at it," Darryl Sutter said of how the trio manufactures offence in the trenches. "If you break games down, their line - again - last night, in terms of being around the net more, they're probably responsible for 11 or 12 (chances). So, if you go by line - 1, 2, 3, 4 - based on that, that's how you score.
"It's a really good idea to (watch) how other guys do it right.
"And then you try and do it."
Coleman has recorded goals in three straight just one other time in his career, from March 9 to 13, 2019, as a member of the New Jersey Devils.
The 31-year-old is one goal away from 100 in his NHL career.

Sabres - Tage Thompson
Who else?
Thompson has already matched his career high in points (68, set last year) and is only four away from doing the same in the goal-scoring category.
His 34 tallies are 10 more than second-place Alex Tuch, with 32 games left in Buffalo's regular season.
### 5. THE BREAKFAST CLUB
Out west, players are conditioned for 8 o'clock starts.
As the nightcap on Hockey Night in Canada, Saturdays can typically drag on, with more than nine hours between the morning skate and pregame warmup.
Not this time.
"I like them," Dube said of Saturday's matinee showing. "But I've never played one at 12:30 (at this level). We've done a couple 2 o'clock games on the road this year, so this might be a little weird. I usually like to sleep in a little bit. Not this time, though."
Dube offered a unique perspective on Saturday's brunchtime battle, saying it actually works to his advantage, as he can take his time, thoroughly prepare himself physically, and get in the proper mindset long before the short walk to KeyBank Center bright and early tomorrow.
"You know what, especially the position we're in, where we need to win every game - you start thinking about the game nice and early and have a lot more preparation the day before, mentally," he explained. "Practice today felt a pregame skate. So, it's a full, 24-hour window where you're fully dialled in.
"When you wake up tomorrow, you don't even have to think about it. You know you're prepared and you're ready to go. Usually, we're used to 8 o'clock starts and it's a long day to get there. But this going to be quick. Feels like a game day today, to be honest. Quick 'nap' tonight and get right into it in the morning."
"It'll be great."