5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. AVALANCHE
The two West leaders battle it out at the Scotiabank Saddledome
Video: We get you set for tonight's tilt with visiting Avs
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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pregame Interviews
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Say What - 'Want to Win the Series'
Projected Lineup
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (90)
Goals - Elias Lindholm (34)
Avalanche:
Points - Nazem Kadri (81)
Goals - Mikko Rantanen (33)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 23.9% (8th) / PK - 84.5% (4th)
Avalanche:
PP - 24.9% (5th) / PK - 78.4% (18th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 55.53% (3rd)
High-Danger Chances: 56.54% (1st)
Avalanche:
Shot Attempts: 52.76% (9th)
High-Danger Chances: 50.87% (15th)
So that was a wild ride, hey?
The Flames are riding high after a crazy 9-5 win over the Oilers Saturday night in the final Battle of Alberta match-up of the regular season.
Mikael Backlund, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk all potted a pair of markers while Dillon Dube, Oliver Kylington and Chris Tanev chipped in with singles. Oh, and let's not forget about the five-assist night from Johnny Gaudreau to top it all off.
Nine goals, all at even-strength. Pretty impressive stuff.
"It was a lot of fun," Gaudreau said after the game. "We were excited to get going. Obviously it was a crazy game, back and forth with powerplays but it was nice to see a lot of guys get rewarded. Marky(Jacob Markstrom) stick with it with all the powerplays they got and made some big saves at towards the end there.
"It was a really good group effort."
A fun one for sure but now the focus shifts to the next challenge.
A date with the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche.
Tonight's tilt is the third and final meeting between the heavyweights with the season series tied at one a piece. Both games were highly entertaining, with the league's best stars going toe-to-toe showcasing skill, speed and so much more.
In other words, buckle up - tonight should be a dandy.
"That first one we battled really hard and took them to overtime and Johnny won the game, he stepped up and got us the win," Dube said. "The second one we had a really good third period, a lot of shoots but I think a lot were on the outside.
"They're a really good team, a fast team. We're excited to have them in our building but we know what we are getting into and how good they are. We really need to be ready for that."
The Avs head into the tilt following a 3-2 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild Sunday night.
It was the second loss in their last three games and they currently are 7-4-2 in March.
The match-up against the Wild was an entertaining back-and-forth affair that saw the Avs heavily outshoot Minnesota 42-29 but it was the Wild who were credited with the better chances, carrying 10-3 edge in high danger chances.
"I liked the way our team played, I liked it a lot. I thought it was a good hockey game," Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said after the game. "Our checking game was really good, didn't give up a lot against a dangerous offensive team. Created quite a bit but didn't finish our chances, obviously, it took us a long time to get on the board after creating some good chances. Didn't shoot the puck well."
"I liked our game though, it was a good hockey game from our guys."
Despite a recent mini slump, Colorado still leads the NHL and is just one win away from being the first club to reach the 100-point mark.
And, with the second most goals scored in the league with 253, there's no secret about the firepower that the Avalanche have.
Even with captain Gabriel Landeskog out of the lineup it's pick your poison with Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar and Nazem Kadri just to name a few.
COOL DUBE: Dillon Dube has six points (3G, 3A) in his last six outings with two multi-point games in that span. The 23-year-old is up to nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points this season while notching seven of those points during the month of March.
MARKY MARK: Jacob Markstrom picked up his 31st win of the season and is one win away from going into a tie for the 1oth most wins in a season in Flames franchise history (Dan Bouchard - 32 in 1978-79). Markstom has the fourth best GAA (2.16) and the fourth best SV% (.925) among NHL goalies with six or more games played this season.
DID YOU KNOW?Three of the four NHL leaders in plus/minus are the Flames top-line. Johnny Gaudreau (+49), Elias Lindholm (+49), and Matthew Tkachuk (+42) sit first, second and fourth respectively.
Flames - Matthew Tkachuk
Saturday saw Chucky go off for a four-point night and now has 82 points on the year, a new career high, eclipsing his previous best off 77 set back in the 2018-19 campaign.
It's been an impressive run for the 24-year-old with 11 points (4G, 7A) in the past four games, and has done the most damage in March with 23 points in 14 games. Tkachuk leads all Flames skaters with 10 power play goals and 25 points while up a man.
He's also is tied for sixth in NHL scoring.
Video: EDM@CGY: Tkachuk slips home a shot in front of net
Avalanche - Nazem Kadri
It's been a career year for the 31-year-old as he leads all Avs in points and sits four goals away from hitting the 30-goal mark for the third time in his career.
In his last five games, Kadri has recorded eight points and has 15 overall in March.
Johnny Gaudreau notched a career-high five assists in Saturday's win over Edmonton, giving him 90 points on the season. He reached 90 points in the third fewest games (65) in Flames franchise history behind only Bob MacMillan and Ken Nilsson, who reached the mark in 62. This is the second time in his career he has reached the 90-point mark, with the last coming during the 2018-19 season when he ended with 99.
Gaudreau also hit the 60 assist mark this season, his third 60-assist season in his career which is tied for the sixth most in NHL history by a winger, tied with Bobby Hall & Mike Bossy.
On Monday, he was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week for last week's performance of 10 points (2G, 8A) in three games. His 25 points (10G, 15A) in the month of March tied for the second most in the NHL and the most by any player in one month by a Flames player this season.
