5 THINGS - FLAMES @ KRAKEN
Calgary will look to sweep this four-game road trip with a win in Seattle
Video: Brendan Parker sets up tonight's game
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Toffoli - 'Enjoy It As Much As You Can'
Projected Lineup
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (99)
Goals - Elias Lindholm (38)
Kraken:
Points - Yanni Gourde (41)
Goals - Jared McCann (25)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 23.1% (8th) / PK - 83.4% (5th)
Kraken:
PP - 14.5% (29th) / PK - 75.1% (26th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 55.87% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 56.20% (2nd)
Kraken:
Shot Attempts: 50.34% (14th)
High-Danger Chances: 48.48% (20th)
Talk about California Love.
The Flames dumped the Sharks 4-2 on Thursday to sweep their three games in the Golden State after earlier wins over the Kings and Ducks.
There were some new faces in the lineup in San Jose, with Juuso Valimaki and Connor Mackey drawing in while Nikita Zadorov and Erik Gudbranson did not play. Brett Ritchie also returned in place of Adam Ruzicka.
While the biggest story this trip has been the wins, the secondary storyline has been the incredible play of the top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk.
Gaudreau notched two assists Thursday and now has a career-matching high of 99 points. He looks to become just the ninth player in Flames franchise history to reach 100 points in a season and the first since Theo Fleury reached the century mark in 1992-93.
Lindholm added to his career-high goal total this season, scoring twice Thursday and now has 38, the most in a campaign for the Flames since Jarome Iginla notched 42 in 2010-11. Since Feb. 1, Lindholm has scored 24 goals which is the second most in the NHL behind Toronto's Auston Matthews (28).
Tkachuk recorded another three-point outing against San Jose, his 13th such performance of three-or-more points in a game this season and his 23rd multi-point outing. Tkachuk sits at 89 points this season, just nine points away from matching his Dad, Keith Tkachuk's season-high point total of 98 set back in 1995-96.
His 34 goals this season match a career high set back in 2018-19, and his 55 assists are 12 more than his previous high in a season.
Video: Condensed Game: Flames @ Ducks
It's been an up-and-down season for the expansion club.
Which, Vegas Golden Knights aside, is to be expected for a new team playing their first NHL season.
However, the Kraken have won two of their last three outings, beating the Stars 4-1 last Sunday at home, before falling by the same score to the Blues Wednesday in St. Louis, and then blanking the Blackhawks 2-0 in Chicago on Thursday.
Alex Wennberg and Jordan Eberle scored at the United Center, while Philipp Grubauer made 29 saves. Seattle's PK came up big, going a perfect 4-for-4.
"Grubi was good tonight, our penalty-kill was good tonight, that's the difference in the hockey game," head coach Dave Hakstol said. "Grubi didn't need to make a ton of saves on the penalty (kill), but he made some real good saves 5-on-5 ... He looked real confident tonight."
He was also impressed with his team's resilience in the second game of the back-to-back.
"Early in the year, we took the easy way out on a couple of back-to-backs, just being honest," he told NHL.com's Bruce Miles. "Our effort wasn't what it needed to be. … It's a hockey game. Yeah, we traveled, but everybody has back-to-backs. Everybody's got probably between a dozen and 15 this year.
"They're a fact of life. You show up and play, or you don't. It hasn't been a topic of discussion for us. It wasn't today. We all know it's a factor at different times of the games in terms of energy, but it's how big of a factor you allow it to be."
This is the third of four matchups this season between the Flames and Kraken. Calgary won the first two meetings, the most recent a 2-1 victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Feb. 19.
Video: Condensed Game: Kraken @ Flames
DID YOU KNOW?: Johnny Gaudreau has a league leading 78 even-strength points this season. Since 2000-01 only five other players have notched that same or more even-strength points in a season (McDavid - 84, H. Sedin - 83, McDavid - 81, P. Kane - 81, Kucherov - 80, Jagr - 78).
LINE-O-MITE!: Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, and Johnny Gaudreau have been involved on the same goal 18 times this season which is the most by any trio in the NHL.
SEATTLE RETURN:Calle Jarnkrok was selected by the Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft from the Predators. He played in 49 games for the Kraken before being dealt to the Flames on March 16. Jarnkrok - who is the cousin of Flames centre Elias Lindholm - has suited up in seven games for the Flames. He has missed the last four outings with a non COVID-related illness but skated with the team Friday at the Kraken's suburban practice facility.
Flames - Tyler Toffoli
Toffoli is one goal shy of 20 on the season, which will be the sixth time in his career he's hit that mark. His 26 assists this season are just one shy of a career-high 27 set during the 2015-16 season as a member of the Kings. The 29-year-old also needs just three more assists for 200 in his career. Click here to read more
Kraken - Yanni Gourde
Jarnkrok (2g, 2a) and former Flames captain Mark Giordano (1g, 2a) - now with the Leafs - were the top two scorers in the season series against the Flames. So instead, keep an eye on Gourde. The former Lightning forward played on a line in Tampa Bay with Barclay Goodrow and current Flame Blake Coleman and is known for his well-rounded game. He's collected one goal against Calgary this campaign.
Head Coach Darryl Sutter on this important four-game swing:
"One game at a time. A couple late nights with travel in it. Funny, you come to California and you think it's easy travel, but you go from southern California to northern California and you're flying into different cities, different airports. Late nights. Just trying to manage guys' energy, get 'em rest, and get 'em ready for an early start tomorrow."
- with files from Dalton Ulrich
