5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. WILD
The Flames look to bounce back tonight against Kaprizov and the Wild
Video: Brendan Parker sets up tonight's tilt
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (64)
Goals - Andrew Mangiapane (26)
Wild:
Points - Kirill Kaprizov (62)
Goals - Kaprizov (23)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 21.7% (11th) / PK - 84.3% (6th)
Wild:
PP - 20.3% (16th) / PK - 79.3% (19th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 55.68% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 56.72% (2nd)
Wild:
Shot Attempts: 50.37% (14th)
High-Danger Chances: 50.57% (14th)
You can't win 'em all.
The Flames saw their quest for a franchise record 11 straight wins come up short Thursday night in Vancouver in a 7-1 loss to the Canucks.
Andrew Mangiapane scored the lone marker in the third period, but five goals in the middle stanza from the Canucks all but sealed the deal.
"Eventually stuff like that happens," Milan Lucic said. "Obviously, it's OK to be mad about it and all that type of stuff. I think we got away from our game plan a little bit. Just tried to play too much of a run-and-gun game versus a checking game and they made the most of their opportunities on the powerplay.
"We've just got to bounce back and focus on what we've got to do."
And what better way to erase the sour taste than by getting right back at it, playing at the Scotiabank Saddledome where the Flames have won 10 straight.
"When you get beat like that, it's a humbling loss, right?" Lucic said. "Big picture, it could be a good thing. I've been on first-place teams where that happens over an 82-game schedule. It's really about how you respond after a loss like that. Big picture, it could be a good thing because it's a humbling game, it's a humbling loss, so it puts things in perspective of what we've got to do to get our game back in order.
"I think that's been a big part of our growth as a team. Whether you win or lose a game, you have to reset mentally and focus on the task that's ahead of you."
Saturday's clash vs. the Wild will mark the first time the clubs have met since Jan. 9, 2020, back when Minnesota netminder Cam Talbot was a member of the Flames.
With almost identical records and playing styles, the matchup should be a good one.
"A lot of similarities," Head Coach Darryl Sutter said. "The one thing that they would definitely be ahead of us - and it's a challenge for us - is to score goals. I think it's only Colorado and Florida that have scored more per game than them. Those young guys for them are top, top players in terms of what they can bring offensively."
Video: "We have to put last night's game behind us"
Minnesota heads into the clash sitting third in the Central Division with 65 points in 49 games.
It's been a tough run of late with just two wins in their last six games, and they're currently on a two-game slide.
Their last outing came in Toronto, which was a defensive battle between two teams more known for their goal-scoring. In the end, the Maple Leafs were able to find the tie-breaker in the third period and added an empty-net goal for a 3-1 win.
"I think our start was better today than it was in Ottawa," Jonas Brodin told MinnesotaWild.com. "It was a tight game, back and forth, chances both ways. And I thought we could have won that game. I think they took advantage of their chances a little bit better. It's tough to lose."
While the effort and compete have been there for the Wild, it hasn't translated into results, as they have gone 1-2-0 on the Canadian road swing - an unusual stretch that saw them start in Edmonton and then head east for a pair of games in Ontario prior to tonight.
Tonight's tilt ends the swing with the two clubs set to meet again in just a few days on March 1, back in Minny.
"I think our focus is most importantly to do the right thing and focus on playing that honest game that I know we can play and believing that when we do that, most of the time, we come out with the win," Frederick Gaudreau said. "I think we just got to stick to what we know is our identity and I think it's pretty simple, it's just being honest within our game, making sure our mindset is always focusing on doing the right stuff, believing that positive is going to come out of that after."
SADDLE-HOME: The Flames return home where they've won 10 straight home games dating back to Jan. 18. The Flames last loss on home ice was Jan. 13 against the Ottawa Senators. Since then, the Flames have outscored their opponents 46-12 during this home win-streak and have improved their home record to 14-4-4.
Matthew Tkachuk (13G, 17A) and Johnny Gaudreau (8G, 22A) lead the way for the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome this season with 30 points each. Elias Lindholm is also over a point-per-game at home with his 26 points (11G, 15A) in 22 home games this season.
Jacob Markstrom is 13-4-4 at home this season with a 1.79 GAA and a .929 Sv% and four shutouts. Those four shutouts lead the NHL for shutouts at home and his 1.79 GAA is the second highest in the NHL among goalies who have played five-or-more home games.
CHUCKY 400: Tonight, Matthew Tkachuk will skate in his 400th career NHL game becoming the 35th player in Flames franchise history to skate in 400 games with the team. Tkachuk has played the most games out of any players from his 2016 draft year, has the most assists (200), the second-most points (334), and the fourth-most goals (134).
DID YOU KNOW? The Flames all-time record for consecutive wins at home is 11 which was set during the 2015-16 season, from Nov. 5 - Dec.27, 2015. During that win streak in 2015, Johnny Gaudreau led the Flames with 15 goals and seven assists for 22 points in the 11 games.
Video: "This is a division that's even from bottom to top"
Flames - Andrew Mangiapane
The Bread man keeps on scoring.
His late tally Thursday night gave him 26 on the year, good for ninth in the NHL and tops on the Flames. Eighteen of his 26 markers have come at even-strength, as well as 24 of his 35 points. In his last 10 games, Mangiapane has collected 11 points.
Wild - Kevin Fiala
The 25-year-old has been rolling with 25 points in his last 20 games, and currently has six points (2G, 4A) during a three-game point streak.
With 43 points in 49 games, Fiala is well on his way to surpass his career high of 54, set during the 2019/20 season.
Darryl Sutter on focusing on weekly segments of games
"As I said, we're into weeks here. Tomorrow finishes the week. You pull out something tomorrow, you go two for three for the whole season, then you get to make the playoffs. You've got to be a .600 hockey team to make the playoffs. This division is a division where there is not an elite team because Vegas is not healthy. This is a division where it's even bottom to top. Seattle's fallen out of it, which wasn't expected, but it's an even division compared to the other division where there's .700-.750 winning percentages, and then there's two bad ones. ... You've got to play .600 hockey to make the playoffs in this division and you won't get into a wild-card spot. It's not hard to figure out. Do it by weeks, do it by opponents and get as many points as you can."
