5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. SENATORS

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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
'It's Awesome' - Flames Return Home
COMING SOON: Projected Lineup
Say What - 'A Lot of Energy'
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
2021-22 Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (38)
Goals - Andrew Mangiapane (18)
Senators:
Points - Drake Batherson (28)
Goals - Josh Norris (14)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 21.4% (11th) / PK - 83.7% (6th)
Senators:
PP - 19.2% (17th) / PK - 78.1% (22nd)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 53.88% (6th)
High-Danger Chances: 53.53% (10th)
Senators:
Shot Attempts: 45.77% (30th)
High-Danger Chances: 45.09% (28th)

1. LAST TIME OUT

It's been a long time coming - a return to home ice.
The last time the Flames played at the Scotiabank Saddledome was over a month ago - Dec. 11, 2021 - in a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins. Between then and now, there's been a pause due to COVID, game postponements and five road games played.
Now, it's time to return to the 'Dome, sweet 'Dome.
And a return to home ice might just be what they need to snap a three-game losing streak with their latest setback, a 6-3 decision in Raleigh six days ago.
"There's no panic. We know what we have in the room," Blake Coleman said. "The coaching staff has done a great job of keeping us competitive in practice, keeping it high-tempo and trying to replicate game reps as much as we can. It's been a good week of practice. I don't want to say it came at a good time as far as the stretch we were going through, but sometimes it's nice to hit the reset.
"We'd all agree as a group that we need to be better here at home than we have been this season. It's nice to be at home and have that convenience of playing in front of our fans again."

Thursday night's tilt vs. Ottawa wraps up the two-game season series, with the Flames having a victory to their credit when they came out on top 4-0 in the nation's capital back on Nov. 14.
Tonight's meeting will also be just the 12th home game of the campaign so far for the Flames, compared to the 22 they've played on the road. Not only is the clash a chance to get back on track, but also to start improving on their home record of 4-3-4.
They've been road warriors all season. Now, it's time to translate that into some home success, too.
"It's always nice to come home and play here," Sean Monahan said. "These next two (games) are going to be big for our group and something that we're really looking forward to.
"We gotta use the energy from the crowd. It's home ice, when teams come in here we want to make this a hard place. You gotta do that as individuals knowing who you are matching up against and be better than them.
"We have to step up here as individuals and as a team. We're looking to get some points."

2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY

The Sens are set to play their first game since Jan. 1, a 6-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and overall just their third since Dec. 18, due to the team battling COVID on two separate occasions.
With a league-high 14 games postponed and playing the second least number of games with 29, it's finally back to game action.
"You have to play to get into a groove," Senators head coach D.J. Smith said after Wednesday's practice. "The guys are sick of practicing for sure. We're going to have to be ready for the first period … it's going to be physical. It's hard to mimic that in practice, you have to get into playing games.
"I read somewhere we've got 53 games in 100 days and that's going to be great. Guys are going to get to play and play lots."
Prior to their pauses, the Sens were on an impressive stretch with a 5-3-1 mark in the month of December, with notable victories over Florida, Colorado and Tampa Bay.
Now, the question is if they can pick up where they left off?
"They (the Flames) are a great team and we know they're going to be coming out hard," Nick Paul said. "We are just focused on our first couple shifts, getting right back into the game skating and hitting hard, then from there just letting our system and skills take over.
"Our main focus is the first two shifts for every single player to get in the game and be ready to play."

3. FAST FACTS

COOL AS COLEMAN: The Flames offseason acquisition has been playing some of his best hockey in the Flaming C since the Christmas break. Coleman has points in four of the last five games (2G, 2A) and is coming off a multi-point outing against the Carolina Hurricanes last Friday. The back-to-back Stanley Cup champion has six goals and five assists for 11 points this season.
MILESTONE MANG: Andrew Mangiapane sits just two points off 100 for his career coming into tonight. Mangiapane leads the Flames this season with 18 goals and his 21 points is good for the fourth-most on the team. Through 33 games, Mangiapane has matched his career best goal total for a season which he set in 2020-21 with his 18 markers. Mangiapane has 61 goals and 37 assists for 98 points in 211 career NHL games and is +17 in his career.
DID YOU KNOW? Matthew Tkachuk is the second-youngest player in Flames franchise history to score their first NHL goal. Tkachuk, 18 years, 312 days old at the time of the goal (Oct. 18, 2016) beat out Sean Monahan, who previously was in second, by 45 days (Youngest - Dan Quinn: 18 years, 205 days on Dec. 23, 1983).

4. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - Matthew Tkachuk
Chucky's run of eight points in his last five games has seen him jump up to second in team scoring with 31 points (15G, 16A) in 33 games. His tally last game against the Hurricanes - a powerplay goal - now has him tied for first with Mangiapane with six PPGs. His 10 points on the man-advantage also sees him tied for top spot on the club alongside Monahan and Elias Lindholm.
Playing on home ice, Tkachuk leads the Flames with seven goals.
Senators - Brady Tkachuk
The younger Tkachuk brother has been on a roll of his own with 22 points (12G, 10A) in 26 games, and is just three points away from hitting 150 in his career.
The Sens captain is well on his way to surpass his point total of 36 set last season, and scored his first career NHL hat-trick back on Dec. 18 in a 4-0 win against Tampa.

5. QUOTABLE

Flames assistant coach Ryan Huska on the value of the extra practice days
"It's about reminders, as to what we are and what makes us a successful team. I think having some practice time gives a chance to do it a little bit different in regards to teaching in video, having some individual and group meetings with our players. You get the chance to reinforce and remind them what makes them as individuals and us as a team successful. We felt like we had three good days of practice here and it'll be nice to get ourselves back into a game day. We're excited about that, for sure. For us coaches, that practice time is valuable. It's a tool that we want to use to make sure we're prepared to play the right way."