5 Things - Flames @ Avalanche

1. Last Time Out

They got the start they wanted.

But not the finish.

The Flames had one of their strongest first periods of the season on Saturday in a matinee tilt with the Devils at the Scotiabank Saddledome, getting a goal late in the opening stanza from Yegor Sharangovich to lead 1-0 after 20 minutes.

But Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt would score in the second period, and Alexander Holtz would add another at 8:59 of the third as New Jersey skated to a 4-2 victory.

Nazem Kadri scored to bring Calgary back within one with just over five minutes to go but Hischier would pot an empty-net marker to seal the deal.

"We finally got the start we were looking for, I don’t think we could have played a better first period, I thought we controlled the play," said Blake Coleman. "To only come out of it with a 1-0 lead, probably should have been more. Great start to the second period, couple missed opportunities early in the second.

"They’ve got talented players, if you let a team hang around when they’re not feeling their best, they can make you pay later in the game; that’s what happened."

Dustin Wolf - who was called up after Jacob Markstrom was injured in practice earlier in the week - got the start in the pipes, making 26 saves in a solid performance.

Head coach Ryan Huska said postgame the team was dealing with a bit of a flu bug and Dan Vladar was supposed to get the start, but he wasn't feeling 100% so Wolf got the nod.

Huska was also asked about the second period when the Devils got back in the game and took the lead.

"I thought we lost our speed through the middle of the ice, which made us successful in the first period," he explained. "We gave the puck back to them a little bit too much in the second period; first period, we moved the puck really well, and we did a good job of keeping it away from their defencemen and when they had the puck, we put them under some pretty good pressure. We got away from that a little bit in the second."

For the full game recap, click here

Tonight's tilt will be the second of three meetings between the Flames and Avs this season.

Calgary finished up a four-game road trip in Colorado in the first meeting on Nov. 25. The Avs opened the scoring prior to the midway point of the first when Jonathan Drouin tallied and they led 1-0 through 20.

Ryan Johansen extended Colorado’s advantage to two goals in the second, before Mikael Backlund made it goals in back-to-back games to draw within one. Nathan MacKinnon would score later to restore the Avalanche’s two-goal lead and make it 3-1 through 40.

Calgary would outshoot Colorado 15-6 in the third period but couldn’t find an answer and fell 3-1.

2. Know Your Enemy

The Avs dropped their second game in a row, falling 5-2 to the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

Travis Konecny scored his first of two in the game, but Nathan MacKinnon - who now has five goals and 12 assists in his last 11 games - replied to knot it at one after the first period.

Owen Tippett and former Calgary Hitmen star Travis Sanheim put Philly up by a pair in the second before Josh Manson tallied to make it a one-goal game again.

But Konecny and Joel Farabee struck in the third to ice it.

Carter Hart made 37 saves for the Flyers, while Ivan Prosvetov turned aside 29 pucks, earning praise from head coach Jared Bednar.

“Despite the score in the game, I thought 'Prossy' played hard for us. We hang him out. He's got us in the game in the third,” Bednar told NHL.com's Ryan Boulding. “The biggest thing that's bothering me is we're finding the rhythm of our game for 10-minute stretches and whatnot, and then we're shooting ourselves in the foot. That's the way I see it.

“You got to give them credit, they earned some of those, but our decisions on some of the scoring chances against and goals against right now, it just is not good.”

The Avs have lost five of their last six and scoring woes are the main culprit, said forward Andrew Cogliano.

"We're not getting enough offence," he told Boulding. "We're getting it from ‘Nate,’ clearly. Everyone has eyes. But I think the other guys need to adopt just a mindset where we could chip away, create momentum. A playoff-like atmosphere, playoff-like style.”

3. Fast Facts

Killer Confidence:

Following Yegor Sharangovich’s shorthanded marker Saturday against the Devils, Calgary now has five shorthanded goals this year. The goal was Sharangovich’s team-leading second PK marker, while Blake Coleman, Rasmus Andersson, and Elias Lindholm have also struck shorthanded. Only four teams in the NHL have scored more on the kill than the Flames: St. Louis Blues (7), Philadelphia Flyers (7), Dallas Stars (6), Carolina Hurricanes (6). Tonight’s opponent, the Colorado Avalanche, are tied with the Flames at five shorthanded markers.

Back-to-Backs:

The Flames will start their fourth back-to-back set of the season tonight. When the game ends, Calgary flies to Vegas for their second of four meetings against the Golden Knights. The Flames previous three back-to-back scenarios came on Nov. 24 at Dallas and Nov. 25 at Colorado, Oct. 19 at Buffalo and Oct. 20 at Columbus, and Nov. 10 at Toronto and Nov. 11 at Ottawa. Following this, Calgary will have four more back-to-back sets this season with their next coming on Jan. 6-7 in Philadelphia and Chicago.

Stick tap to Flames PR guru Jordan Bay for these tidbits

4. Did You Know?

Mikael Backlund recorded an assist on Thursday against Carolina for his 506th point as a Flame. He passed Gary Roberts for sole possession of 10th place on the team's all-time scoring list.

5. Players to Watch

Flames - Nazem Kadri

The forward has three points (1g, 2a) in his last three games, and centred a line with youngsters Connor Zary and recent Wranglers call-up Matt Coronato on Saturday against the Devils. He had a team high four shots against Jersey and was third in ice time among forwards with 18:02.

Avalanche - Nathan MacKinnon

As mentioned above, the Colorado captain is on a heater. His goal Sunday extended his home point streak to 12 games, third-longest in franchise history behind only Mats Sundin (17 games in 1992-93) and Peter Stastny (17 games in 1980-81).