5 Things - Flames vs. Avalanche

1. Last Time Out

There was no mincing words.

No excuses.

Instead, there was accountability and a blunt honestness when the Flames spoke after a rough 7-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Sunday to finish off a three-game road trip that started with a 6-3 victory over the Lightning Thursday but sandwiched in between another L, coming courtesy of a 5-1 setback to the Panthers on Saturday.

“We just got outplayed, outcompeted, outeverything," said Blake Coleman after the tilt in Raleigh. "Just an awful effort all around.

“You just have to have an understanding of where you are and who you're playing," he later added. "I've played a lot of tough games in this building against a good team, and the games where I've come out on top are just a simple hard road game and we didn't have that at all.”

So what now what?

Back to Mr. Coleman for that.

“I've gotten my (butt) kicked plenty of times in this league," he said. "It's how you respond and our leadership group will make sure that that showing never happens again.”

They get that chance to respond when they open this homestand that includes meetings with Vegas Thursday (tickets), Montreal Saturday in an early 5 p.m. start (tickets), and the Capitals on Monday (tickets).

The Avs have won both tilts between the teams this season in Denver: 3-1 on Nov. 25, and 6-5 on Dec. 11.

2. Know Your Enemy

Nathan MacKinnon - the Hart Trophy leader in the minds of many folks at this point of the season - woke up Monday morning to find out he was named the NHL's First Star of the Week.

The Colorado Captain, who has been on a heater since the opening puckdrop of the season, had three goals and a league-leading seven helpers last week as he extended his home point streak to an astonishing 32 games.

His 71 points (26 goals, 45 assists) over the streak is tied with Guy Lafleur (1978-79) for the third-longest in NHL history, and the longest since Wayne Gretzky's 33-game home streak in 1985-86.

His play helped him take over the NHL scoring lead - and helped his team to a perfect six points on their three-game homestand.

The Avs are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, and came into Tuesday's action tied for second in the Central Division with the Jets at 85 points (with two less games played) and four behind the Stars (who have played an extra game).

They have scored 241 goals this season, which has them second in the league, just one goal behind the Stars.

And they're looking for more, bulking up with additions at the trade deadline - including Casey Mittelstadt from Buffalo - and welcoming back Valeri Nichushkin.

Nichushkin returned after missing the last 22 games and scored the winner in OT in Colorado's most recent game on Sunday against Minny, propelling the homeside to a 2-1 OT win.

"It's a tough game to play. Four new faces, or five with Val coming back, and that's how it usually goes,” MacKinnon told NHL.com's Ryan Boulding. “Guys are trying to be nice and make extra passes to each other, I think, and that's just guys being good teammates and trying to be nice to each other. But we got simpler as the game went on, and we really started to get our forecheck going and had a ton of chances in the third. I thought we played a great third.”

3. Fast Facts

Sharknado:

Yegor Sharangovich scored four goals on the Flames recent three-game road trip to increase his goal total to 27 on the campaign. Sharangovich currently leads all skaters on a new team this season in goals, with Tyler Toffoli (26 w/ NJD/WPG) – whom he was traded for in June, sitting in second. His 10 multi-point games in 2023-24 are the fourth most among all Flames players this season behind Nazem Kadri (12), Blake Coleman (11) and Jonathan Huberdeau (11).

Backs Keeps Rolling Along:

Flames captain Mikael Backlund (198-327—525 in 972 GP) is two goals away from becoming the 11th player in franchise history with 200 goals. Backlund has 13 goals on the campaign and is looking to become just the second Swedish-born skater in Flames franchise history to reach 200 goals with the Flames and join Kent Nilsson (229).

4. Remember Me?

When these two clubs met in their second tilt this on Dec. 11, Nazem Kadri had a big night against his former team, recording a goal and an assist for his-then fourth multi-point game of the season. It was his 250th tally in his NHL and at the time became the sixth skater from the 2009 draft to reach 250 NHL goals and joined: John Tavares, Matt Duchene, Evander Kane, Chris Kreider, and Ryan O'Reilly. Kadri is now up to 265 goals in his NHL career, and his 0.70 points-per-game rank fourth among all skaters from the 2009 draft class, behind only John Tavares (0.94), Matt Duchene (0.77) and Ryan O’Reilly (0.72).

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Dryden Hunt

Hunt scored his third of the season against the Hurricanes - his second tally in his last three outings. Since being recalled by the Flames on Feb. 17, his trio of tallies are tied with Andrew Mangiapane for the fourth-most on the Flames over that span, trailing Yegor Sharangovich (7), Blake Coleman (5) and Nazem Kadri (5).

Avalanche - Nathan MacKinnon

As mentioned above, MacKinnon is the straw that stirs the drink - even on a star-studded Avs side. He scored his 40th goal against Detroit. He's the fourth player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to record three-or-more 40-goal campaigns, joining Michel Goulet (7), Joe Sakic (5) and Peter Stastny (5). He assisted on both goals in the team's last outing, which boosted his total to 71 this season.