5 Things - Flames @ Stars

1. Last Time Out

When asked to assess Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Predators in Nashville, Head Coach Ryan Huska gave a straight forward reply: "I thought we were slow and sloppy."

Noah Hanifin and Yegor Sharangovich scored for the Flames, while Jacob Markstrom had another excellent outing, stopping 41 shots, in the defeat. Click here to read the full game story.

Now the key is to learn from the loss, and look to get another two points on this four-game road swing in which they rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Kraken to get things rolling.

The Stars are a familiar opponent, with the two clubs meeting fairly recently - back on Nov. 1 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Connor Zary scored his first NHL goal early in the tilt to give the Flames the lead but Stars captain Jamie Benn answered back to make it 1-1 after 20. Andrew Mangiapane put the homeside up by one before the Dallas rattled off three straight to lead after the second period. MacKenzie Weegar got one in the third but it finished 4-3 Stars.

Tonight's tilt will take place at th American Airlines Center - a building the Flames have had a lot of success in. Calgary is 5-0-0 in their last five regular-season trips there dating back to the 2019-20 season, outscoring the Stars 23-15 through those contests. Elias Lindholm leads the Flames with eight points (3G, 5A) in that stretch.

2. Know Your Enemy

The Stars have somewhat quietly gone about their business this season.

And that business is a 12-4-2 record, which has them third in the Western Conference and sitting in top spot in the Central Division.

Above them are the defending Cup champion Golden Knights and the surprise Canucks, with the surging Kings and always-in-the-mix-to-win-the-West Avalanche right behind them.

The Stars are 6-3-1 in their last 10, with their most recent four games of this current five-game homestand being quite a roller-coaster ride: a 4-3 OT victory over the Coyotes, a 6-3 loss to the Avs, followed by a 6-3 win over the Rangers, then a 2-1 OT loss to the Golden Knights on Wednesday.

Roope Hintz had the lone tally against Vegas (more on him below in players to watch), while Jake Oettinger made 24 saves. Dallas went 0-3 on the powerplay and actually outshot Vegas, with Adin Hill making 31 saves.

“I think it’s two really good teams that play a heavy, hard game and tries to win every night. Good four lines and good goalies,” Hintz said. “Good crowd and of course, heavy game, and against them, it always feels like a playoff game. Not many chances there.”

3. News & Notes

Texas-sized 10-4:

Flames forward Blake Coleman is one of seven Texas-born skaters in the NHL this season, and he gets set to play in his 23rd game against his childhood team tonight. Coleman, who was born in Plano, just a 30-minute drive from Dallas, has six goals and four assists for 10 points against the Stars throughout his career thus far. Earlier this year, Coleman became just the fourth Texas-born NHLer to eclipse 200 NHL points when he reached the plateau on Oct. 24, joining Brian Leetch (1028), Seth Jones (377) and Tyler Myers (351).

Backs and Benn Go Way Back:

Tonight's two captains - Mikael Backlund and Jamie Benn - were teammates on the Kelowna Rockets during the 2008-09 season. The Rockets would go on to win the WHL Championship that year in six games over the Calgary Hitmen and advance to the 2009 Memorial Cup, where they would fall in the finals to the Windsor Spitfires. The Rockets Head Coach that season was current Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska.

Stick tap to Flames PR Coordinator Jordan Bay for compiling these notes

4. Back-to-Backs

The Flames will play their third back-to-back set of the season tonight in Dallas and tomorrow in Colorado. The Flames previous two back-to-back scenarios came on Oct. 19 in Buffalo, Oct. 20 in Columbus, and Nov. 10 in Toronto, Nov. 11 in OTT. Following this, Calgary will have five more back-to-back sets this campaign with their next coming on Dec. 11 in Denver and Dec. 12 in Vegas.

5. Players to Watch

Flames - Noah Hanifin

Hanifin scored Wednesday in Nashville, recording his fourth goal this month. Hanifin is tied with the second-most goals by a defenceman in November, only trailing Quinn Hughes (5). Hanifin has also registered two assists for six points since Nov. 1, and sits just four helpers away from 200 in his NHL career.

Stars - Roope Hintz

Hintz has two goals and four points in his last two games, and sits with eight goals and 17 points in 17 outings this season. While Hintz still gets tagged by many as the (or one of the) most underrated players in the league, the Finnish forward continues to consistently show that he has long since outgrown that title.