5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. DEVILS
The Flames are back in action for second meeting of the season with Jersey
Video: Should be a devil of a time tonight
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
Projected Lineup
'He's Got All the Tools' - Sutter on Ruzicka
'It's a Very Cool Milestone' - Backlund
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
Head-to-Head Stats
WANT TO WIN SOME CASH?!
https://www.nhl.com/flames/community/50-50
Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (78)
Goals - Elias Lindholm (30)
Devils:
Points - Jesper Bratt (56)
Goals - Bratt (19)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 23.4% (12th) / PK - 85.1% (4th)
Devils:
PP - 18.5% (23rd) / PK - 81.7% (10th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 55.51% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 56.35% (2nd)
Devils:
Shot Attempts: 51.36% (11th)
High-Danger Chances: 56.57% (1st)
Refreshed and ready to go.
After a much needed two days away from game action, the Flames host the Devils for the second and final meeting of the season.
In their last outing Sunday night, they fell 3-0 loss to the Avalanche, which ended a crazy stretch of five games in seven days. They finished the run with a 3-2 mark.
Despite the setback, the Flames had a strong effort against one of the league's best.
"As I said after the game, I had no issues with our performance," Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said. "But in this business you can't be satisfied, that's the bottom line. If you aren't trying to get better someone else is. And that's meaning as an individual and that means as a team.
"We've established it (our foundation) in training camp and the first long trip that put it in place. So we always have that to fall back on, you can't fall back on whose going to score, who didn't score or we're going to trade chances. That doesn't work, that flat out doesn't work.
"The further you get into your seasons it gets more traffic, tighter and harder."
In their first meeting of the year back on Nov. 21, the Flames beat the Devils 5-3.
They'll look to sweep the season series as they sit atop the Pacific Division with a five-point cushion over the Kings.
"It's an exciting time of year," Oliver Kylington said. "We have 25 games left in the regular season and a playoff run hopefully coming up here. It's exciting times, it's fun to play right now. Teams are getting tighter and its getting harder to win. I think everyone is excited to be where we are and push forward to be a really good team.
"We're taking games at time. Try to be in the present as much as we can, focus on our next opponent and then move forward."
New Jersey is coming off a 6-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night to start their three-game Western Canada road swing.
After falling behind 2-0 early in the first, the Devils would battle back to tie the game up in the middle frame before Vancouver pulled ahead 4-3 lead after 40 minutes and never looked back.
Nico Daws got the start making 17 stops on 21 shots before being replaced late in the second by former Flame Jon Gillies, who stopped six of seven.
With the loss, the Devils now have just eight wins in 29 road games.
"We had opportunities to change the complexion of the game but you've got to give (Canucks goalie Thatcher) Demko credit, he made some big saves at critical times," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said after the loss. "I thought we had real good looks the first two minutes of (the powerplay). Just didn't hit the mark. He made a couple saves. Maybe a little bit better around the net. The opportunities were there, we just didn't capitalize on them."
"We knew they were going to come out hard, especially in their own building," Devils leading scorer Jesper Bratt added. "You've got to be honest with yourself and say they were better than us."
It's been an up-and-down stretch for the Devils of late, with a 5-5 mark in their last 10 games. Prior to the loss to the Canucks, they had won three of their previous four games.
The Devils got a big addition back into their lineup as captain Nico Hischier played in his first game after missing the previous three with a lower-body injury. The injury bug did strike again though, as Pavel Zacha left the game early in the first with an upper-body injury and is said to be doubtful for tonight accoring to Ruff during his post-game avail.
HOME AT DOME: Since Feb. 1, the Flames have been the top home team in the NHL going 11-1-1 over that span while outscoring their opponents 58-25 for an average of 4.46 goals/game and 1.92 goals against/game.
In those 13 home games, Elias Lindholm has notched 12 goals and eight asissts for 20 points and sits at a +16. Johnny Gaudreau has recorded seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points at home over that span of games.
OUR STAR:Jacob Markstrom was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week (March 7-13). Markstrom denied 76 of the 78 shots he faced, going 3-0-0 with a 0.67 goals-against average, .974 save percentage and one shutout to help the Flames (36-16-7, 79 points) pad their lead atop the Pacific Division.
Last week, Markstrom notched his league-leading ninth shutout this season. He is now one shutout shy of the franchise record for shutouts in a season set by Miikka Kirpusoff (10) in 2005-06.
DID YOU KNOW?: The Flames have won seven-straight games against the New Jersey Devils, dating back to Feb. 3, 2017. Since Jan. 10, 2012, Calgary is 13-2-0 against the Devils as the Flames won six straight, lost two games, then won seven straight against New Jersey.
Flames - Elias Lindholm
Mr. 30 goalscorer.
For the first time in his NHL career, Lindholm has reached the 30-goal mark with his latest tally against Detroit Saturday evening. With 62 points in 59 games, Lindy is 16 points away from surpassing his career high in points set during the 2018-19 season when he finished with 78. His +45 is tops on the club and second overall in the NHL.
Devils - Jack Hughes
The 2019 first-overall pick up a goal and an assist in the loss to the Canucks and has racked up seven points in his last seven outings.
Hughes currently sits second in team scoring with 46 points and is just one goal shy from hitting the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career. His point total this season is a new career high, surpassing his previous best of 31 set last campaign.
Mikael Backlund will play his 804th NHL game tonight, moving him into fourth all-time for games played in Flames franchise history. He will become the all-time leader in games played in franchise history by a player drafted by the organization, passing Al MacInnis.
The 32-year-old was drafted in the first round of the 2007 NHL Draft and has career totals of 163 goals and 261 assists for 424 points.
