5 Things - Flames vs. Blackhawks

1.

One more.

Then a breather.

And what better stocking stuffer than a couple more points under the tree?

That's what Mikael Backlund and the Flames are after Saturday, as they close out the pre-holiday portion of the schedule with a 2 p.m. matinee against the Blackhawks. GET TICKETS

"We had a good meeting this morning, guys are excited for a new game tomorrow," Backlund said after a brisk skate at the Scotiabank Saddledome Friday morning. "I thought we had a good practice, some good energy out there, good pace.

"Now we’re looking forward to tomorrow."

There are two schools of thought, though.

The first adheres to the belief that ending any experience with a positive is a plus, be it in dog training or professional hockey.

The second, according to head coach Ryan Huska, is that Saturday's game is just another date on the calendar.

"It’s funny, I always used to think the Christmas break - when I was coaching junior - was a big thing, ‘cause the kids all wanted to get home and see their friends and family," the Flames bench boss relayed Friday. "But I don’t feel the same with this. This is another game for us, tomorrow, really. A game that we have to make sure we’re at our very best to win in, so it doesn’t matter if there’s two or five days coming up that we aren’t playing.

"It’s a game on our schedule that I feel like we have to be at our very best to give ourselves an opportunity to win."

And it's a game that presents opportunities for offence, too.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Flames have a close to 6% higher share of 5-on-5 shot attempts and high-danger chances over their games played than do the Blackhawks, suggesting there's a lot to like about the matchup and the way Calgary's game lends itself to creating offensive opportunities.

Cash in on said opportunities, and there's less of a likelihood of that Christmas stocking being filled with coal at the end of 60 (or more) minutes.

And with a five-day break looming, the message from the captain is simple.

"Leave it all out there. We’ve got time enough, after, to rest," Backlund said. "It’s very important that we stay focused on the task ahead; it’ll be a lot nicer going into the break with a big win, better than a losing streak.

"It’s time to win tomorrow."

2. Know Your Enemy

Chicago comes to town having won their last three games, with Saturday's contest marking the first in a mini two-game trip that ends Monday in Minnesota.

The Hawks parted ways with head coach Luke Richardson earlier this month, replacing him with 49-year-old Anders Sorensen, who by virtue of his promotion from AHL Rockford became the first Swedish-born head coach in NHL history.

Since Sorensen took the reins, Chicago is 4-3-0, arriving in Calgary on a three-game winning streak most recently punctuated by a 3-1 victory over Seattle on home ice Thursday night. Ilya Mikheyev counted a pair of goals for the Blackhawks in the win, with rookie defenceman Nolan Allan providing some third-period insurance with his first NHL goal.

Flames head coach Ryan Huska is wary of Saturday's opponent, noting the new head coach bump appears to be in full effect.

"Sometimes when you make a coaching change, things change a little bit, so they’re playing with a little bit of renewed energy," Huska said Friday. "I think the skill side of their game - with their forwards - is showing up again, and they’re a dangerous team when they get room.

"They have one of the better young players in the league, we all know that."

That young player, Connor Bedard, leads the team with 26 points on the season.

But for Huska (whose lone NHL appearance as a player was in Chicago silks), the focus is on taking the positives from Thursday's OT loss to Ottawa, and carrying them through to a speedy opponent in the Blackhawks.

"There’s a challenge for our team to make sure that we’re playing very similar to the way we did last night," Huska said. "Against a team that likes to leave the zone, likes to try and get behind you.

"So we have to just stay focused on what we have to do."

3. Fast Facts

2024-25 Season Series

Calgary holds the upper-hand in the season series, by virtue of a 3-1 win on home ice Oct. 15.

Matt Coronato scored a pair of goals, while Andrei Kuzmenko's second-period deflection stood up as the decider as the Flames won their fourth consecutive game to begin the season.

Nick Foligno had the lone tally for the visitors, while Dustin Wolf turned aside each of the other 31 shots he faced on the night.

The three-game season set will conclude in Chicago Jan. 13.

Did You Know?

Special teams garners a lot of attention over the course of a season, but for the Flames in the month of December, there hasn't been much time at all to put their powerplay and penalty-kill into practice.

Since Dec. 1, Calgary ranks third in the NHL in 5-on-5 playing time per game. On average, the Flames have spent 51:24 of each 60-minute session at 5-on-5, with only the Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild experiencing LESS average special teams time per game this month.

The Flames are averaging a full 2:13 more of 5-on-5 time per game in December than they did in November, one of seven NHL teams to see an increase of two or more minutes in that stat month over month.

In all, 22 of the 32 NHL clubs have played more at 5-on-5 in December - on average - than in November.

4. Lineup Notes

The Flames skated Friday morning at the Scotiabank Saddledome in the following formation:

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Andrei Kuzmenko
Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato
Yegor Sharangovich - Connor Zary - Jakob Pelletier
Kevin Rooney - Walker Duehr

Defence

Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson
Joel Hanley - MacKenzie Weegar
Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal
Tyson Barrie - Daniil Miromanov

Goaltenders

Dan Vladar
Dustin Wolf

Note: forwards Ryan Lomberg and Martin Pospisil each took maintenance days and were absent from Friday's practice.

5. Players to Watch

Flames - Jakob Pelletier

He's feeling comfortable, and confident as an NHLer.

Pelletier said as much in his media session Friday morning, and why not? The 23-year-old has found a home on a line with Connor Zary and Yegor Sharangovich, and an increased special-teams role as a member of an improving Calgary PK unit.

He's put up a goal and two helpers since being recalled from the AHL's Calgary Wranglers, and he played a season-high 16:31 Thursday night against the Sens.

Blackhawks - Connor Bedard

Bedard has seven goals on the season for the Windy City bunch, but comes into Saturday's game with multi-point efforts in two of his last five outings.

The 19-year-old has also already set a new personal best with three game-winning goals, and he's one off matching the four powerplay markers he put home as a rookie in 2023-24.

His 19 assists are five more than any other skater on the Chicago roster.