5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. ISLANDERS
The Flames look to extend their winning streak tonight vs. the Isles
Video: A classic matchup is on tap tonight. Let's do this!
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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
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Projected Lineup
Say What - 'Light That Fire Again'
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (56)
Goals - Andrew Mangiapane (23)
Islanders:
Points - Mathew Barzal (29)
Goals - Brock Nelson (15)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 21.5% (12th) / PK - 84.9% (3rd)
Islanders:
PP - 17.9% (22nd) / PK - 82.5% (10th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 55.17% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 55.97% (2nd)
Islanders:
Shot Attempts: 46.87% (26th)
High-Danger Chances: 49.51% (18th)
On any given night these days, anyone can step up and make a difference.
THE difference.
One-line teams can't, as Head Coach Darryl Sutter explained postgame, "find a way" as effectively.
When you're the owner of the NHL's longest active winning streak, chances are you've had production from a number of different sources.
There's that venerable top line featuring Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm, who've terrorized the circuit so far.
Jacob Markstrom (obviously), who tops the league leaderboard with eight shutouts and made 46 stops the other night against Toronto.
A formidable checking trio in Andrew Mangiapane, Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman, who not only play the tough minutes against the other team's best, but routinely win those matchups, AND supply an offensive punch in the process.
But on Thursday, it was the blueline that played a starring role, paving the way to a 5-2 win thanks to a combined six-point effort.
Noah Hanifin, Oliver Kylington and Rasmus Andersson had a goal each, while Chris Tanev tallied an assist, and Nikita Zadorov dished out one of the hits of the season as the Flames picked up a fifth-straight W.
"We're trying to get them to shoot more," Head Coach Darryl Sutter said of his D corps. "Over the course of the year, your defencemen have to score - to be successful in this league - approximately 35 goals as a group, and we're under that. So, after tonight, we might be close to it. But there has to be more shots from up top."
The brigade now accounts for 20 of the Flames' 145 tallies, with Kylington - the pack leader on the blueline - drawing six of his own.
Hanifin is not far behind with five, tying a personal best in a Flames uniform, and halfway to the career high he set as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2017-18.
"I thought, especially after Z's hit, it got pretty rowdy," Hanifin said of effort. "It was a competitive game, you know? That's a playoff type of game - two good teams - and that's how we have to play. Those are the games you want to be a part of. You want to be a team that can break teams down and use your building for momentum. So, it was a fun night."
Following tonight's game, the Flames will host the Blue Jackets, Ducks, Kraken and Jets to wrap up a season-long seven-game homestand.
'Dome, sweet 'Dome, indeed.
"Our game has been better in all aspects - but, obviously, it's carried into home ice, finally," Coleman said following Friday's off-ice workout. "We're playing well.
"We've taken control of the possession game here and have outshot teams, aside from the shots last night. We've really controlled the games, Marky has been really good, our top line has been as advertised and we're getting some secondary scoring.
"Really, things have been good. Guys want to compete and play hard for our home crowds and get wins here and start to build that meaningful game and postseason game buzz and get the community into it.
"It's important to win home games and we're starting to do that."
Video: "When we're going, we're a pretty dangerous line"
The Islanders were in action last night, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Oilers at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Anthony Beauvillier had the lone tally for the Isles, who opened a four-game road trip with a 6-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.
Ilya Sorokin was tagged with the loss but had a fabulous night in the paint, stopping 33 of the 36 shots he faced.
"It's a pretty random sport sometimes, so you just try to control what we can control," Head Coach Barry Trotz told Cory Wright of NewYorkIslanders.com. "We can control our effort, which was really good; our pace to our game was pretty good; our structure to our game was good; our physicality was good; our discipline was good and our powerplay was dangerous.
"All that being said, there weren't that many negatives other than the score."
It's been a tough year for the Islanders, who enter tonight's game 15 points back of a wild-card playoff spot. However, they do hold four games in hand on the team they're chasing - the Boston Bruins.
Following tonight's game, the Isles will head back east and wrap up their trip with a stop in Buffalo.
WHAT'S UP, MANG: Andrew Mangiapane is currently riding a four-game point streak dating back to Feb. 1. He has four goals and a pair of helpers in that span. Mangiapane's 23 goals through the first 44 games tie him for the fourth-most by a primary left-winger in that many games in Flames franchise history. Johnny Gaudreau is tied for the most with 26 goals in 44 games during the 2018-19 campaign (tied w/ Gary Roberts - 1992-93).
A MARK-Y MATCHUP:Jacob Markstrom is putting together a solid month of February after stopping 46 of 48 shots on Thursday to earn his 19th win of the season. Markstrom is 3-0 this month with a .945 save percentage, along with 1.91 goals-against average and one shutout. His 46 saves against the Leafs are tied for the most saves on home ice in Flames regular-season history (tied w/ Dwayne Roloson - 1998).
WELCOME 'DOME: The Flames have won five straight home games and have out-scored their opponents 24-4 during that span. The Flames have improved their home record to 9-4-4 and have still played the fewest home games in the NHL this season. ... The Flames lead the NHL with the fewest goals-against per game, on average (2.06), while scoring an average 3.18 per game at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Even with Toronto's 48 shots on Thursday, the Flames still allow the fewest shots in the NHL on home ice with an average of 26.1 per game.
Video: Brendan Parker sets up tonight's tilt with Isles
Flames - Rasmus Andersson
Quietly, Andersson has put together a career year offensively - his two-point (1G, 1A) effort on Thursday giving him 23 to surpass his previous best of 22. The 25-year-old is on pace to record 43 points this year, assuming he plays all 82 games.
The right-shot rearguard is averaging 22:25 per game in ice time, and has an impressive, 53.30% shot share, despite having the second-lowest offensive zone-start percentage (51.02%) among defenceman.
Islanders - Adam Pelech
The first-time NHL All-Star had a strong night in the Alberta capital, despite his -2 rating. Playing north of 19 minutes, owning the possession battle and generating 83.33% of the high-danger scoring chances (5-1).
The 27-year-old has 13 points (2G, 11A) in 36 games this year.
Blake Coleman on Mikael Backlund's game:
"He's a very composed guy. There was never any worry to him. If he was concerned about it, he doesn't show it. He's been around for a long time and has had a lot of success in this league. You can tell that he has a quiet confidence to him and he's just a really good player. I think we all knew it was a matter of time. The joke going around the locker-room is that he's 'Second-Half Backs,' and he's stepped right into that these last two games. He's been really, really good for us. Obviously, happy to see him get rewarded because he's played a good game, but sometimes the puck doesn't go in and we all know how that goes. If we're going to be a real threat to make some noise in the playoffs, he's going to have to be a big part of the team and I'd say he's definitely started to step into that role and we all knew he'd get going at some point here."
Backlund on his turnaround in recent weeks:
"We had a good talk after that Florida road trip - me and Darryl - where we both shared our feelings with each other and I knew I had to be better. That was the point of the talk. He said I have to be more competitiveness, play with more emotions, and I think I've done that since then. I think my game has been getting better and better since coming home from that trip. I think that's been a big part of it, playing more aggressively without the puck and making more plays with the puck."
