5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. STARS

FLAMES (31-24-14) vs. STARS (37-19-13)

8 p.m. MT | TV: CBC/Sportsnet West | RADIO: Sportsnet 960 The FAN

2022-23 Season Series: 2-0-0

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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
'A Known Winner' - Toffoli
Projected Lineup
Say What: 'Big Points At Stake'
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
2022-23 Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Tyler Toffoli (60)
Goals - Toffoli (28)
Stars:
Points - Jason Robertson (85)
Goals - Robertson (39)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 19.6% (24th) / PK - 82.1% (8th)
Stars:
PP - 23.8% (7th) / PK - 82.9% (4th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 57.33% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 52.85% (13th)
Stars:
Shot Attempts: 50.84% (14th)
High-Danger Chances: 53.10% (12th)
Seven was the lucky number and this time, the house didn't win.
The Flames rolled to an impressive 7-2 win over the Golden Knights to end a quick two-game swing, picking up their first win ever at T-Mobile Arena.
With a 3-2 lead headed into the third, they could've gone with the simple, direct approach to try and hold onto the win but on this night offence was the best form of defence as they scored four times in the final 20 minutes.
They were determined to skate away with the W.
"Definitely think we've earned it over the years in this arena, and this year, too," said Mikael Backlund. "A lot of bounces the other way but at the same time, if you do the little things right and play the right way, and when the team plays the way we can, that's when the bounces come. There's no excuse that we haven't got the bounces. When we play well, we do get the bounces, too.
"It feels good, winning here. Being part of all the losses here, it feels really good to finally win here to break that record or spell, whatever you call it. It feels good, obviously, seeing Winnipeg lose and getting closer to a playoff spot. We know we still got to be more consistent and play a lot better every night, but today was a big game from us and a step forward."
Tyler Toffoli led the charge with a four-point night (2g, 2a), while Blake Coleman scored twice and Backlund, MacKenzie Weegar, and Dillon Dube rounding out the scoring. Jacob Markstrom had a strong outing stopping 17 shots in his eighth straight start.
With the win, the Flames are 3-1-1 in their last five games and now sit just three points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the final wildcard spot in the West.
"I think we've stayed in the moment and have tried to do that for quite a while," coach Darryl Sutter said on the push. "If you think about it, we've been in so many one-goal games this year.
"You could easily walk away from it and say, 'well, this isn't going to work.' But that hasn't happened with our club yet."
The Flames will now make a quick stop at home for one game before hitting the road again, facing the Stars for the third and final time this season.
When the two clubs meet, these games are never short of excitement with plenty of goals and drama to be had, dating back to last spring's first-round playoff matchup.
Take just two weeks ago at American Airlines Arena while deadlocked 4-4 in the third, Toffoli played the role of hero scoring at the 19:53 mark that held up as the winner. The goal held up as the third-latest go-ahead goal in franchise history behind a pair of goals at 59:56 by Cory Stillman (April 14, 1999) and Jarome Iginla (Feb. 12, 1999).

The Central Division leading Stars have had an up-and-down stretch over the past couple weeks.
After scoring a whopping 10 goals in Buffalo on March 9 to start their road trip, the Dallas offence has only mustered three goals in their last two games - both losses.
Thursday night saw them in action in Edmonton, falling 4-1 to the Oilers and dropping to 3-2 on their current six-game road swing. Rookie Wyatt Johnston was the lone goal getter for the Stars, while Jake Oettinger made 28 stops.
"Getting in the hole in the first period and playing behind again just like the other night, it's not a good recipe for us," Stars coach Peter DeBoer told NHL.com. "You have to score more than once to win, and I didn't think we did enough to get to the net, to get inside to penetrate to score."
The race for top spot in the Central Division is a tight one that could very well come down to the wire, with the Stars just two points ahead of the Wild and three clear of the Avalanche.
What was a comfortable cushion has quickly turned into the Stars looking over their shoulder each night, as they aim to lock in home-ice advantage for the post-season.
"It's really tight right now and it's getting closer to the end of the regular season," Roope Hintz said. "We've got to tighten up and get back to winning."
PRODUCT OF TEXAS:The second all-time Texas-born goal scorer in NHL history, Blake Coleman gets set to face his childhood club for the third time this season, and 21st time in his career following a two-goal effort against Vegas on Thursday night. Coleman, from Plano, product, has five goals and four assists for nine points in his previous 20 contests against the Stars. Coleman became just the second Texas-born NHLer to eclipse the 100-goal mark earlier this season, joining Brian Leetch (247).
ONE AWAY FROM 300: Mikael Backlund recorded his fifth multi-assist game of the season last Sunday night with a pair of helpers With the pair of assists, Backlund sits just one away from the 300-assist plateau. Backlund is looking to become just the second Swedish-born skater in Flames franchise history to eclipse 300-asissts (Kent Nilsson - 333) and become just the 11th skater to achieve the feat with the Flames. Backlund's 29 assists on the season are tied for the third most he's recorded in a single campaign (31 in 2016-17 and 2017-18) and are the fifth most on the Flames so far this season.
Flames - Tyler Toffoli
Holy moly what a performance.
This late in the season you need your top producers to step up and Toffoli did just that picking up four points against the Golden Knights to reach 60 points on the year - a new career high.
"Obviously, things have been pretty good and I've been pretty consistent," he said. "I came into this season wanting to prove something and I'm trying everything I can to help the team win games."
Johnston scored his 19th goal of the season in Edmonton, tying him for first in goals among rookie skaters alongside Matty Beniers. The 19-year-old has four points (3G, 1A) on a three-game point streak and has five goals in his past seven games.
Blake Coleman on Tyler Toffoli's play this season
"He's been great. He's the best finisher on our team. He's been showing it lately. It was a big couple goals he scored, but obviously the first one was the highlight-reel type. He's been consistent all year and that's what you need. He's having a career high. To get in, we're going to need him to continue and other guys to pull some weight."