5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. PENGUINS

FLAMES (4-1-0) vs. PENGUINS (4-1-1)

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'Be Hard On Him' - Flames on Crosby
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Nazem Kadri (6)
Goals - Tyler Toffoli (3)
Penguins:
Points - Sidney Crosby (11)
Goals - Crosby (4)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 30% (6th) / PK - 85.7% (T-8th)
Penguins:
PP - 25% (T-10th) / PK - 72.7% (27th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 56.09% (4th)
High-Danger Chances: 50% (14th)
Penguins:
Shot Attempts: 52.21% (12th)
High-Danger Chances: 56.36% (7th)

1. LAST TIME OUT

Good teams find a way to win.
And the Flames have done just that to start the season.
The Flames avoided a second straight loss with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over the Hurricanes Saturday night, and now sit atop the Pacific Division with a 4-1 record.
It was another game that they fell behind in early but there was no quit. Nazem Kadri and Brett Ritchie scored in regulation while Tyler Toffoli tallied the overtime winner. Jacob Markstrom settled into a groove and was stellar in the third period, stopping 25 shots.
"The league is so much based on special teams when you look at it," head coach Darryl Sutter said after the game. "What's the difference between this game and last game? Last game they scored shorthanded and a powerplay goal. Tonight (Saturday) we scored a powerplay goal and the penalty-kill, those 10 guys we used for the four minutes and even the other parts of the game did a hell of a job.
"And then the goal that is the winner is three-on-three so it tells you what the game is about."
The Flames have another tough match-up against the Penguins tonight at the Scotiabank Saddledome for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
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With both teams flying so far, it very well could come down to a special teams battle.
"You can't overlook the fact that our special teams have been solid and a big reason why we are where we are," Blake Coleman said. "We have a lot off familiar faces on the kill from last year, and obviously the new guys coming have been big keys on the powerplay. Been great and that's why we are 4-1.
"So while 5-on-5 hasn't, maybe not been where we want it, a lot of the other things have been good and there are a lot of important parts to the game too. You look toward how teams win in the playoffs and special teams make or break that time of year."

2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY

The Penguins enter the match-up following a 6-3 loss to the Oilers last night at Rogers Place.
Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust scored for the visitors, as the Pens saw a 3-1 lead early in the second period slip away with Edmonton scoring five unanswered goals en route to the comeback win.
"We got outplayed," head coach Mike Sullivan said after the game. "I thought we had a real good start. The first period was really strong. It was an area where we knew we had to get to get better. I thought the guys really came out and worked hard in the first period, but we got outplayed from there."
"I think there's a certain discipline to manage the puck the right way. One of the easiest ways to beat yourself is to mismanage the puck and give teams easy looks. I think we're just not diligent with the puck right now."
Despite the setback, Pittsburgh is off to a hot start with nine points out of a possible 12, currently first in the Metropolitan division.

3. FAST FACTS

NAZ STREAK: Nazem Kadri scored his second of the season on Saturday, extending his season-opening point streak to five games. Only two players in Flames history have posted a longer season-opening streak from their start of their tenure with the franchise: Phil Housley (7 GP in 1994-95) and Sergei Makarov (7 GP in 1989-90).

TEAPOT:Tyler Toffoli has five points in five games this season with three goals and two assists. Toffoli sits just two points shy of 400 (196G, 202A) on his career and four goals shy of 200.
RALLY ON:After Saturday's win, the Flames now have two multi-goal comeback wins this season, tied for the most among all clubs along with Chicago, Columbus, Philadelphia and Washington.
Stick tap to Flames Media Relations Specialist Dalton Ulrich for compiling these notes.
Follow him and the Flames PR team @FlamesPR on Twitter for more.

4. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - Rasmus Andersson
A dazzling start to the year!
Andersson has picked up right where he left off last season, and is currently tied for first in team scoring with six points (1G, 5A) following a two-point outing vs. the 'Canes.
The 25-year-old also reached a milestone in the win, picking up his 100th career assist. He's been heavily leaned on early in the year with over 20 minutes a night of ice time consistently and played a whopping 27:47 minutes last game.
Penguins- Sidney Crosby
No slowing down for Sid.
Crosby not only leads his club in scoring but also the league in scoring with 11 oints. The Penguins captain has five points in the last three outings (2G, 3A) and is one assist shy of 900 in his career.

5. QUOTABLE

Mikael Backlund on the lighter sked this week
"You always want to play games. It's the most fun, it's exciting. Especially early in the year you want to get going. You have a lot of energy and just want to go out there and play. We can't do much about the schedule, we have time to work on the details in practice and you got to look at it in that way."