5 THINGS - FLAMES @ SHARKS

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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
Empty The Tanks
Projected Lineup
Say What - 'Fresh In Our Minds'
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (28)
Goals - Andrew Mangiapane (17)
Sharks:
Points - Timo Meier (26)
Goals - Meier (11)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 25.0% (7th) / PK - 87.0% (4th)
Sharks:
PP - 16.9% (23rd) / PK - 87.3% (3rd)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 53.84% (4th)
High-Danger Chances: 53.28% (8th)
Sharks:
Shot Attempts: 46.64% (26th)
High-Danger Chances: 52.75% (12th)

1. LAST TIME OUT

Down, but not out.
The Flames had a valiant, third-period push that saw them rally from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits, but in the end, it wasn't enough.
The Golden Knights prevailed 3-2 on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.
"All in all, we got better as the game went on," said Matthew Tkachuk, who rang the would-be tying marker off the crossbar late with the goalie pulled. "But trailing going into the third especially, or trailing 2-0 and then 3-1, it's tough to come back in a building like this against a team like that."
Max Pacioretty, Nicolas Roy and Evgenii Dadonov scored for the Knights, who out-shot the Flames 28-25. Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane countered for the visitors, while Jacob Markstrom - who was otherworldly in the first two periods - made 25 saves.
With the loss, the Flames had their eight-game road point streak snapped. They were only two games away from tying a franchise record 10-game spree, set in the 2009-10 season (8-0-2).
"Obviously, we didn't win and that's the most important thing, but we also didn't roll over and die, you know what I mean?" said Chris Tanev. "They get up 3-1, the building's loud, it's easy for guys to sit back and not want to make plays and be afraid to go out there.
"Guys are still pushing, guys are still trying to score goals, (and) that's a big step for us."
The Flames will now look to close out this four-game road swing with a win and guarantee a trip record above the .500 mark.

2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY

This is the first of a season-long, seven-game homestand for the Sharks, who are coming off a 6-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.
Jack Roslovic broke a 3-3 tie less than two minutes into the third period and the Jackets didn't look back.
Nick Bonino, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl supplied the offence, while Matt Nieto and leading point-getter Timo Meier each had a pair of helpers.
Former Calgary Canuck Adin Hill stopped 24 of 29 shots in a losing effort.
As a result, the Sharks finished 3-2-0 on a five-game trip, which included wins over the Blackhawks, Devils and Islanders.
But they can't help but feel they left points on the table.
"It was the most frustrating game of the year for me," Sharks Head Coach and former Flames defenceman Bob Boughner told reporters after the game. "" think that it was a tale of two games. I thought I liked our start, even though we got out of the period 1-1 in the first, and then the second, we did some good things but we didn't manage our game properly.
"Mario (Ferraro) fanned on the one, but we were all over them and we let them come back on the 2-on-1 goal. Roslovic got behind us, a breakaway ... Dumb plays. And they come back to haunt you.
"You score four goals on the road, you feel you should come away with at least a point. But they scored some timely goals and got some timely saves. "
"We did a lot of good things early in the road trip, but tonight, it got away from us.
"Unacceptable.
"Those guys in the room have to tighten it up and play the right way. And we didn't play the right way."

3. FAST FACTS

BREAKING BREAD: Andrew Mangiapane leads the NHL 16 goals on the road. Since 1989, Mangiapane is tied for the third-most road goals - league-wide - through a team's first 16 road games in a season, trailing Mario Lemieux (17 goals in 1992-93 and 18 in 1995-96) and Bernie Nicholls (18 in 1988-89).
SITUATIONAL STATS: The Flames are 13-2-3 when scoring the game's first goal and 10-3-3 when outshooting their opponent ... Calgary is 10-1-1 when leading after the first period on the road and 10-0-0 when taking the lead into the third period away from home ... The Flames have outscored the opposition 28-12 in the first period and have outshot the other team 286-242 in the opening frame. On the road, the Flames have outscored their opponent 21-6 in the first period.
ROAD ROLLIN': Even with Sunday's loss to the Golden Knights, the Flames are still the NHL's top road team with an 11-3-2 record away from the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Flames have the best points percentage (.750%), most regulation wins (9), most goals for (53), fewest goals against/per game (1.88), and have the third best road penalty kill (87.7%). Johnny Gaudreau leads all Flames with 19 points (5G, 14) in the 16 road games.

4. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - Matthew Tkachuk
Tkachuk is only one point away from 300 in his NHL career. Tonight, he could become the 23rd player in franchise history to reach that milestone as a member of the Flames.
Sharks - Timo Meier
Speaking of milestones within reach …
Meier leads the Sharks in goals (11) and points (26) this year, and is now only one goal away from 100 in his career.
The 25-year-old has 214 points (99G, 115A) in 337 career games.

5. QUOTABLE

Andrew Mangiapane on staying in games, and having the belief to battle back:
"Obviously, you don't want to be down two goals, but I'm sure it's going to maybe happen throughout the year. It's better early on here that we get almost - I don't want to say comfortable - but know that we can come back from it, right? We've got to play the right way and chances will still be there for us and not to give up. It's good to have that little push at the end there, but we shouldn't be in that situation."
Darryl Sutter on how Sunday's game played out:
"We really didn't change our whole game. I thought we played a good game. ... The top end of their lineup is used to going a little deeper and it showed in situations tonight. You've got to grind to win."
On passing, puck battles and limiting turnovers:
"You want to be a playoff team, there are a lot of one-foot deals out there, not 60- or 70-footers. And you've got to win them."