5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. SABRES
The Flames tangle with the Sabres on Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night
Video: Brendan Parker sets the stage for tonight's game.
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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
'Feels Like I'm in Sweden' - Jarnkrok
Projected Lineup
Say What - 'We're In It to Win It'
FLAMES ACQUIRE JARNKROK
'Great Guy, Great Teammate'
'Super Excited'
What a Night
Say What - 'Good Move For Our Club'
1-on-1 with Jarnkrok
1-on-1 with Treliving
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (79)
Goals - Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane (30)
Sabres:
Points - Tage Thompson (44)
Goals - Thompson (24)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 23.4% (11th) / PK - 85.4% (4th)
Sabres:
PP - 19.3% (21st) / PK - 76.5% (21st)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 55.49% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 56.45% (T-1st)
Sabres:
Shot Attempts: 46.34% (30th)
High-Danger Chances: 44.60% (30th)
Wednesday was an eventful one for the Flames.
With the acquisition of forward Calle Jarnkrok, followed by a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils a few hours later, it was a good day.
It was announced prior to the game that the Flames acquired Jarnkrok from Seattle in exchange for a 2022 second-round pick (originally Florida's), a 2023 third-round pick, and a 2024 seventh-round selection.
"Super excited," Jarnkrok said of the deal. "I've been watching a lot of games this year when Calgary's been playing. Played against them a couple times, they're a very good team, very hard to play against.
"I'm going to come in and be myself and try to do what I can to help this team be better. I'm super excited to be part of the Flames."
On the ice, the Flames took care of business, scoring three goals in the middle frame to break a 2-2 tie, and take a 5-2 lead into the third, which they were able to hold onto.
And in the process, they got some key depth scoring, with six different goal-scorers, including the of Milan Lucic, Dillon Dube and Brett Ritchie, who found the scoresheet.
"We said we wanted to play straight lines, play heavy on the puck, get on the cycle and play in the o-zone as much as we can and I think we did a good job of that," Lucic said. "It was nice to see him (Ritchie) chip in with his first one.
"It's up to us to keep doing what we've been doing on the ice. There's still 22 games left, a lot of regular-season hockey left."
The focus now shifts over to tonight when the Buffalo Sabres pay a visit to the Scotiabank Saddledome for the second and final meeting of the season.
The Flames skated to a 5-0 victory back on Nov. 21 in Buffalo - overall, winning a third straight over the Sabres, and having won six of the last ten meetings.
Jarnkrok - who arrived in Calgary yesterday afternoon - could make his Flames debut tonight.
"We talked about this not too long ago with Lindy and I playing together," Jacob Markstrom said of the reunion. "(Told him) when we're retired and old you can buy a low-division team in Sweden and then get all your friends together but we figured we would just do it here instead.
"It's for sure special, great guy and great teammate. He's going to be a great addition to our team."
Video: "It's exciting to be able to play with him again"
Buffalo enters the matchup after losing 6-1 to the Edmonton Oilers last night.
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak and was the first of three games of their Western Canadian road trip.
The Sabres struggled to match the pace and intensity of the Oilers, out-chanced 35-16, and 16-5 from the high-danger areas.
All in all, it was a night to learn and move on from.
"What I saw was what everyone else saw. It was very, very simple tonight, that was not a good game," Sabres head coach Don Granato told NHL.com. "They line matched and it was a hard match, they won the matchups, won the small area battles and we did not. We did not play with any pace whatsoever and that was the difference in the game.
"They out battled us for pucks."
Consistency has been a struggle for the young Sabres this season, going 4-6 in their last 10 games, with an up-and-down stretch for the last few weeks.
There's little time for rest as and headed into the battle in Calgary, the Sabres' bench boss is looking for a strong bounceback.
"It's an extremely tough building and we're coming in off a back-to-back and they're rested," he said. "We'll get a good gauge in a response form. But clearly, an experience (the loss in Edmonton) we have to learn from.
"We need a better effort no question and it's a bigger challenge."
TEAM GAME: The Flames improved to 37-16-7, 81 points (60 GP) this season. Only one campaign in franchise history has featured the club collect more wins through their first 60 contests: 1988-89 (41), en route to a Stanley Cup.
Calgary has also improved to 15-1-1 in their last 17 home games since Jan. 18. In that span, the Flames have out-scored their opponents by a 77-30 margin (4.53 goals/game vs 1.76 goals against/game).
EAT BREAD: Andrew Mangiapane notched his 30th goal on Wednesday against the Devils, reaching that milestone for the first time in his career, and joining Elias Lindholm as the Flames' two 30-goal scorers.
Calgary has had multiple players with 30 goals through 60 games only four times in franchise history: Theo Fleury & Joe Nieuwendyk in 1990-91, Joe Mullen & Nieuwendyk in 1988-89, Hakan Loob, Mike Bullard & Nieuwendyk in 1987-88, and Kent Nilsson & Lanny McDonald in 1982-83.
Only two other teams in the NHL have two 30-goal scorers in Edmonton (McDavid & Draisaitl) and Nashville (Duchene & Forsberg).
DID YOU KNOW? The Flames became just the second team to boast multiple players with 70-plus points (Johnny Gaudreau: 27-52-79 in 60 GP & Tkachuk: 28-43-71 in 60 GP) and 30-plus goals (Elias Lindholm: 30-33-63 in 60 GP & Mangiapane: 30-14-44 in 60 GP) this season.
Video: Mangiapane nets 30th in a 6-3 win over the Devils
Flames - Calle Jarnkrok
Flames debut.
Enough said.
Since being acquired by the Sabres as part of the Jack Eichel trade, the Okotoks product has thrived in Buffalo collecting 14 points in 27 games and has scored three goals in his last three games.
Jacob Markstrom on the friendship between him, Elias and Calle:
"It's one year (age gap) between Calle and I. We didn't grow up far away from each other. Went through the same school system and obviously hockey was a big part of my life and his. I'd have sleepovers at his house so we were close and that relationship has grown. With Elias growing older, all three of us played hockey and started hanging out a lot and working out in the summer together. We see him a lot and in the summer live super close in the same neighborhood all three of us. It's special for sure to have a guy you know so well not only as a person but as a hockey player he's going to be great for our team."
