5 Things - Flames @ Golden Knights 

1. Last Time Out

The Flames land in Vegas for a date with the defending Stanley Cup champs on the heels of a frustrating Monday evening in Colorado.

Architects of a half-dozen third-period rallies already this season, Calgary suffered a similar fate at the hands of the Avalanche, but get right back to work tonight against a Golden Knights team against whom they’ve enjoyed success already this season.

Click here for Monday's full recap.

Five different players lit the lamp for the Flames Monday including Yegor Sharangovich, who has found a home on Calgary’s top line, and is up to seven goals on the season after finding the back of the net in back-to-back contests.

Blake Coleman tallied his team-leading eighth goal of the campaign against Colorado; he’s more than a third over the way to matching his career-best 22-goal season (registered as a New Jersey Devil in 2018-19) - and after Monday's two-point effort, he has recorded five points over his last three games.

But despite having a bit of offensive swagger, the veteran forward is well-aware Monday's loss was an opportunity that fell by the wayside.

"It wasn't good enough," Coleman said following the game. "You knew they'd push, they're a good team.

"The building got loud, just too many mistakes, and a game that we should have put away."

The Flames were short-staffed on the blueline Monday. Chris Tanev left the game just 15 seconds into the proceedings after being on the receiving end of a hit from Colorado's Ross Colton along the end boards.

Head Coach Ryan Huska stopped short of using Tanev's injury as an excuse, though.

"It's not ideal losing a defenceman early like that, but the hard part in the game is that we score five goals but you can't give up six," the Calgary bench boss said. "There were mistakes that we made that we have to correct and fix in our zone, there's no doubt about that.

"Simple plays with the puck caused us a lot of problems in regards to the chances against (Monday), so we have to clean those areas up."

Nazem Kadri was all over the ice Monday. He became the first Flame to reach the 20-point mark this season after a goal and a helper against his former team.

But with another tough opponent on tap for this evening, Kadri knows all too well his group has to shake off the disappointment of Monday's loss.

"We've got no choice," he said.

"We've got a good Vegas team in a hostile building, so it's not getting any easier and we better be ready to play."

2. Know Your Enemy

The Golden Knights were struggling offensively when last we saw them, but Bruce Cassidy’s group has rediscovered its scoring touch, with 17 goals in the past three games.

Vegas dispatched the Dallas Stars 6-1 Saturday, but the story of their 5-4 shootout win over the San Jose Sharks Sunday might well have been the play of goaltender Jiri Patera.

The former Brandon Wheat Kings star turned aside 34 shots in his season debut, with fellow WHL alumnus (and Calgarian) Adin Hill sidelined with an injury.

“He did a really good job for us,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters following Sunday’s game. “He played a little bit last year, he got a taste of it.

“His first game of the year, you never know; I was hoping we’d play better in front of him for everyone’s sake.”

The Golden Knights (19-5-5) hold a six-point lead atop the Pacific Division - and by extension, the Western Conference - and come into tonight’s game boasting a 10-2-2 home record.

Jack Eichel leads the way offensively with 32 points (12 of which have come during his current seven-game point streak), while reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Marchessault is the club leader with 14 goals.

3. Fast Facts

2023-24 Season Series:

Tonight marks the second of four meetings this season between Calgary and Vegas, the first coming at the ‘Dome Nov. 27 in a game the Flames rallied to win 2-1 in overtime.

MacKenzie Weegar potted the game-winner in the dying embers of the extra session in a game Calgary trailed 1-0 after 40 minutes. Dan Vladar made 27 saves between the pipes to earn the win.

After tonight’s game, the two sides will meet again on Jan. 13 in Las Vegas, with the series finale set for March 14 in Calgary.

Did You Know?

Dennis Gilbert recorded just the second multi-point game of his NHL career Monday, factoring in with two assists vs. the Avalanche.

His first multi-point game also came on the road, when he scored once, and added a helper Feb. 11, 2023 against his hometown Buffalo Sabres.

Gilbert also logged a career-high 20:26 of ice-time Monday, with the Flames forced to use just five defencemen for the bulk of the contest vs. Colorado.

4. Quotable

Blake Coleman on resetting from Monday's loss:

"I guess the beauty of it is, we can put this behind us quickly and respond with a big game (Tuesday). Another tough building, you know we’ve got to find ways to come away with points on this road trip. Should have started off on the right foot here, but instead we’ve got to dig out of a hole. Still, we can take two out of three on the road trip, and we’d be happy with that."

5. Players to Watch

Flames - Connor Zary

Elevated to the top line Monday in Denver alongside Yegor Sharangovich and Elias Lindholm, Zary did not look out of place.

The rookie forward scored a terrific hand-eye goal in the second period against the Avalanche, bringing his season tally to six.

Three of those six markers have come in the Flames’ last four games.

Golden Knights - William Karlsson

Karlsson was one of the standout performers when these two teams last met at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The Swedish forward scored once, and came close to tallying a second time Nov. 27 in Calgary were it not for a heroic, face-first block by Chris Tanev in the third period.

Karlsson is two goals away from matching his 2022-23 total of 14 and sits second among Golden Knights scoring leaders with 26 points.