5 Things - Flames @ Devils

1. Last Time Out

The Flames were looking for a bounce-back game when they hit the ice against the Rangers Tuesday night.

They wanted to regroup, refocus and, most importantly, get back in the win column — and they did so in convincing style.

A day after falling 6-2 to the Maple Leafs to open this four-game road trip, Calgary held New York to just 13 shots in a dominant 2-1 victory.

CLICK HERE FOR GAME STORY

"It was probably my easiest game as a Flame," said goalie Dan Vladar after. "I don’t even know what kind of word I should use - what’s better than unbelievable, I dunno. Just not a busy night for me at all, the blocks that you see from Nacho, Weegs and Frosty towards the end, that’s a team right there, that’s playoff hockey.

"It gives me and Wolfie goosebumps that those guys are willing to do those things for us. Really good night for us, (so) proud of this group."

The Flames controlled every facet of the game and it if wasn't for the heroics of Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin, who made 33 saves, the final score would have been much uglier for the Blueshirts.

"I think the complete game, like that’s one of the best we’ve played all year, for sure," said Head Coach Ryan Huska. "We gave one up early, which is never a good thing, but I just felt like the guys were committed to doing things the right way tonight. And I thought their goalie was excellent. This was a night where we could have scored more than two or three, but their goaltender was excellent as well."

This is the second of two meetings this season between these teams, with Calgary knocking off New Jersey 3-0 in their first matchup on Nov. 1.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS ON THAT GAME

2. Know Your Enemy

The Devils last played Monday night, beating the Blue Jackets 2-1 in Columbus.

That win came two days after they were dumped 7-3 on the road by the Penguins.

On Monday, Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt scored in the first period, with Jake Allen having a massive night making 45 saves - 23 in the third - to secure the victory and the two points.

“We won, so that's all that matters,” Allen told NHL.com's Brian Compton. “Obviously, we don't want to be under that much duress. They were a desperate team and they threw everything they could at the net. We would have been doing the same thing if we were in that situation as well.

“Columbus, every time we've played them it's a tough game, especially in their building. I thought for the most part for those two periods it was a pretty solid effort. Obviously, the two late goals in the second was huge for us, and we grinded it.”

New Jersey is battling for playoff position, while the Blue Jackets are trying to play their way into a Eastern Conference Wild Card berth, putting a lot on the live in the outing.

“A desperate opponent coming at us,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “They're real aggressive, lots of pressure, hard to make any real tape-to-tape passes in that environment, so you're under siege. But goaltending was terrific from Jake Allen.

“I thought the guys, despite giving one up, that's sort of the bend don’t break type mentality, and we earned two points off of that mentality.”

The Devils are 17-11-4 at home, and 5-5-0 in their last 10.

3. Wild Card Update

Calgary, with 73 points, trails Vancouver (75 points and in the second Wild Card position in the West) and St. Louis (75 points), although the Flames have played one less game than the Canucks and two fewer than the Blues.

CLICK HERE FOR WILD CARD STANDINGS

4. Fast Facts

Marty Party

On Tuesday in New York, Martin Pospisil recorded a game-high eight hits in Calgary’s 2-1 win, accounting for over 20% of the body checks the Flames threw against the Rangers. Pospisil has registered a team-leading 250 hits this season and has now recorded eight or more hits in four separate contests in 2024-25 (Dec. 8 at DAL: 8 hits) (Dec. 19 vs. OTT: 9 hits) (Jan. 26 at WPG: 9 hits). Since making his NHL debut on November 4th, 2023, the Slovakian power forward has recorded the third-most hits in the NHL with 488, behind only Kiefer Sherwood (582) and Garnet Hathaway (508).

He's Nazty

Nazem Kadri recorded a goal and an assist on Tuesday against the Rangers to record his 49th and 50th points of the 2024-25 season. Kadri has become the third Flames skater in the past 30 years to record 50 points in his first three seasons with the franchise, following Alex Tanguay (3 from 2006-07 – 2010-11) and Daymond Langkow (3 from 2005-06 – 2007-08).

Stick tap to Flames PR's Jordan Bay for these tidbits

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Matt Coronato

Playing in front of a large group of family and friends, the Long Island product had a memorable MSG debut, scoring the game-winner in a storybook outing. He was all around it all night, finishing with five shots and 19:33 of ice time.

"Matt’s been good, but tonight seemed like one of his better games," said Huska after. "He was skating again, he was fast, he was strong on the puck, scored a goal with that shot that he’s got. Maybe it’s something about playing in here - I would assume - but he played very well tonight."

Devils - Jesper Bratt

With Jack Hughes sidelined for the rest of the season, Bratt has been looked to pick up the slack - and he's done just that. He has three goals and 10 points in his last four games, and leads the team with 20 goals and 80 points in 69 skates this campaign.