5 THINGS - FLAMES @ PREDATORS

FLAMES (21-14-9) @ PREDATORS (19-17-6)

6 p.m. MT | TV: Sportsnet One | RADIO: Sportsnet 960 The FAN

2022-23 Regular Season Series: 0-1-0

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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
'Hits, Goals, Drama' - Battling Preds
Projected Lineup
Say What: 'Emptying The Tanks'
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
2022-23 Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Elias Lindholm (40)
Goals - Nazem Kadri (17)
Predators:
Points - Filip Forsberg (38)
Goals - Filip Forsberg (18)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 20.0% (25th) / PK - 82.1% (7th)
Predators:
PP - 17.0% (28th) / PK - 79.1% (15th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 55.71% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 52.15% (13th)
Predators:
Shot Attempts: 48.69% (23rd)
High-Danger Chances: 49.22% (19th)
###

1. LAST TIME OUT
   To put it simply: that was a WILD swing of emotions.
   Six different goal-scorers and 11 point-getters helped stake the Flames out to a 6-1 lead before the second period was out.
   And then things got interesting.
   Tyler Seguin scored one late in the middle frame to make it 6-2. Then, Joe Pavelski tallied twice around the mid-point of the third, and Colin Miller added one more with 4:37 to play - and suddenly, we had ourselves a game.
   But despite getting outshot 13-8 in the third and surrendering four straight goals, the Flames held off the Stars and got the two points they were after.
   And at the end of the day, that's all that matters.
   "Two points," echoed Dan Vladar, who is now 7-0-3 in his last 10 decisions between the pipes. "That's what it is in this league. No one's asking about what the score is. Just the two points are the thing that matters the most. It's better to win 6-5 (than) lose 1-0."
   Head Coach Darryl Sutter said that despite Dallas' four-goal surge, there were no 'anxious moments' on the Calgary bench. Against a team that entered the day 12-4-3 on home ice, the Flames knew what they were up against.
   "I wasn't anxious. Anxious is usually if you're scared or don't know what you're doing," he explained.
   Jonathan Huberdeau agreed, adding that panicking in that situation serves little purpose.
   "We had to stick with it," he said. "It's the worst when you start panicking. That's when everything goes south. You can't panic in that kind of situation. We have a lot of mature, a lot of older guys, and we've got to take that as an advantage and close these games out."
   Andrew Mangiapane, Trevor Lewis, Elias Lindholm, Nazem Kadri, Rasmus Andersson and Chris Tanev all scored. Kadri, Andersson, Tanev, Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar all had multi-point efforts, and Vladar - who got the start for the second straight game - stopped 29 of 34.
   The Flames - who are now 2-0-2 on their five-game trip through the Central - are 8-2-3 in their last 13 and have points in 14 of 17 overall dating back to Dec. 10. Tyler Toffoli has been particularly damaging in the past 13 dates, leading the Flames with five goals and 16 points and making it clear things are trending in the right direction.
   While they players acknowledge there's still some work to do, it's hard to ignore the success they've had over the past month and how it's now beginning to make a serious dent in the standings.
   "We weren't a frustrated group," Mikael Backlund said following Sunday's practice. "We know a lot of the games, we played pretty well. We couldn't score enough or not as much as we wanted, but we all know if you play the right way and do the right things, good things will happen."

2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY
The Predators are coming off a 5-3 loss to the Sabres on Saturday, and have now dropped three straight after starting the New Year with four consecutive wins.
Roman Josi, Jeremy Lauzon and Ryan Johansen tallied for the Preds, but Kyle Okposo broke a third-period tie with a shorthanded marker, and Jack Quinn added the insurance late for Buffalo.
Juuse Saros made 28 saves in a losing effort.
"I think we felt good going into the third, obviously had a lot of momentum," Josi told John Glennon of NHL.com. "Gave up one on the powerplay - the shorthanded goal - which was the tiebreaker.
"That can't happen on the powerplay, when you have a chance to score. If you can't score, at least on Twitter for more.
### 4. PLAYERS TO WATCH
Flames - Chris Tanev**
Jokingly, Darryl Sutter said the pressure was now on.
"I told him he has to score every game now," the coach offered up with a smile. "Once you get going, you've got to stay with it."
Not that Tanev was necessarily bothered by his season-long goal drought, but to finally break the goose-egg has to be a nice feather in a cap for a player that does literally everything else for the Flames.
"Nice to score, obviously," Tanev said after the Dallas game. "Nice to contribute. Feel like I've had that shot quite a bit this year and finally scored, so it's nice when you can help that way.
"Just as long as you're getting some chances and you feel like you're contributing to helping the team win, that's all that matters for me."

Predators - Juuso Parssinen
With an assist on Josi's powerplay goal on Saturday, Parssinen extended his personal point streak to six straight games (1G, 7A). The 21-year-old now has four goals and 17 points in 28 games this year, including five multi-point efforts.
He currently sits 10th in rookie scoring, but on a per-game average (0.61) among regular skaters, he jumps all the way to fourth, trailing Matty Beniers (0.86), Matias Maccelli (0.73) and Cole Perfetti (0.66).
Parssinen is currently centring the top line with Matt Duchene and leading scorer Filip Forsberg.
### 5. DID YOU KNOW?
- Elias Lindholm and Filip Forsberg were teammates during the 2013 and 2014 World Juniors, winning silver in both years.
- Andrew Mangiapane's first-period goal just 25 seconds into the game on Saturday was the second-fastest game-opening goal the Flames have scored this season, behind Tyler Toffoli's early icebreaker on Dec. 20 in San Jose that came just 15 seconds into the game.
- Noah Hanifin played his first NHL game at Bridgestone Arena on Oct. 8, 2015.
- Predators forward Mark Jankowski spent four years with the Flames from 2016 to 2020, skating in 208 contests for Calgary with 36 goals and 28 assists for 64 points.