5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. BLUES
The Flames wrap up a six-game home stand with final meeting of the season vs. St. Louis
Video: Brendan Parker sets up tonight's game
NEED-TO-KNOW
ONLINE 50/50
Purchase your online 50/50 tickets for a chance at some big cash!
GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
Monahan Out for the Season
COMING SOON: Projected Lineup
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
Head-to-Head Stats
WANT TO WIN SOME CASH?!
https://www.nhl.com/flames/community/50-50
Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (91)
Goals - Elias Lindholm (34)
Blues:
Points - Jordan Kyrou (62)
Goals - Pavel Buchnevich, David Perron , Vladimir Tarasenko (23)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 24% (9th) / PK - 83.8% (4th)
Blues:
PP- 26.2% (3rd) / PK - 82.7% (7th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 55.38% (3rd)
High-Danger Chances: 56.28% (2nd)
Blues:
Shot Attempts: 48.19% (21st)
High-Danger Chances: 45.99% (26th)
Tonight the Flames host the St. Louis Blues for the sixth and final game of this home stand that has seen them go 2-2-1 so far.
They picked up a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings Thursday. Johnny Gaudreau and Erik Gudbranson scored in the third period as the Flames took the lead with eight minutes to go, but the Kings forced extra time thanks to a Viktor Arvidsson's marker with four minutes left in the third.
Overtime solved nothing and the shootout saw Kings forward Lias Andersson score the lone goal to give the visitors the extra point. LA now sits five points back of the Flames for first in the Pacific Division, but Calgary has three games in hand.
"It's something we have to get back to, to find that killer instinct," Milan Lucic said. "One thing we've been really good at this year is getting the lead and closing teams out. As of late in these close games we haven't been able to do that. Through an 82 game schedule, I don't want to make excuses but during an 82-game schedule you are going to have your ups and downs.
"Right now we have to find our way out of it and get back to playing the way we were earlier in the year. It's things you need to learn throughout the season.
That starts tonight.
"One thing I've learnt in this game is that confidence is everything," said Lucic. "Confidence in yourself as an individual, confidence in your teammates, and the group as a whole is what gets you where you want to go. That's something we've had all year and have had success. It might not be there right now but those are building blocks that we built in the first 67 games of the year. It's something we have to find again and instill in each other and go out there and do it.
"We have 15 games left to find our game so it's where it needs to be once playoffs start."
The match-up against the Blues is the third and final meeting of the season in a Pacific vs Central Division tilt. The Flames are 10-4-2 against the Central this season, having bested the Blues 7-1 on Jan. 24 while the Blues earned a 5-1 win just three days later.
The Blues head into the match-up following a 6-5 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers Friday night.
St. Louis - which trailed 4-1 after 20 minutes and 5-3 after 40 - scored two goals early in the third stanza to even things up and eventually force overtime.
"Not really the start we wanted going down 4-1," Colton Parayko said after the game. "They came out hard, pressured us hard, got to the net and got pucks to the net. Obviously a good job in fighting back into the game, good to get a point coming back from being down 4-1. The start was not ideal.
"It was a good comeback by us overall. That's big for our group coming back like that, knowing that if we're down we can step up and get back in it."
With 84 points in 67 games, the Blues are third in the Central with a two-point cushion over the Nashville Predators with a game in hand. With a 4-3-3 mark in their last 10 games and the Preds catching up, a Flames/Blues playoff match-up isn't out of the question.
It isn't determined who could get the start, as Jordan Binnington initially got the nod in Edmonton but after allowing four goals on 13 shots, Ville Husso took over for the rest of the game and made 25 saves to salvage a point for the Blues.
"We need saves," head coach Craig Berube said on the start from Binnington. "We stayed with it and got a big point."
MARCH ON JOHNNY:Johnny Gaudreau was named the Second Star of the Month for March on Friday after finishing second in the league with 26 points (11G, 15A) in 16 outings. He collected points in 13 of 16 contests, including in seven consecutive games to start the month (March 1-12: 6G, 7A). Johnny has registered seven multi-point performances, highlighted by his first career five-assist night on March 26 against the Oilers and his sixth career hat-trick on March 10 against the Lightning.
HAIL HANI: Noah Hanifin notched another assist on Thursday and is now one point shy of matching a career-high for points in a season of 33 set in 2018-19. Hanifin was second on the team during the month of March in shots on goal (49) and finished the month with a goal and six assists for seven points and a plus/minus of +8.
BIG Z: Nikita Zadorov sits just one point shy of 100 career NHL points. Zadorov is also closing in on a new career-high for points in a season as his 16 points this year are four shy of his best point total of 20 points back in 2017-18 campaign with the Colorado Avalanche. Zadorov's 13 assists this season are tied for the most in a season for him.
Flames - Dillon Dube
The 23-year-old has been great of late, creating scoring opportunities and has developed great chemistry alongside linemates Blake Coleman and Calle Jarnkrok, the trio getting stronger each game.
With six points in his last eight games, Dube sits at 21 points on the year and is one point away from matching his career high of 22 set last season.
Blues - Robert Thomas
A two-point night against the Oilers saw him extend his point streak to four games with seven points (2G, 5A) in that span. His 55 points on the year is a new career-high and his 15.3 shooting percentage is also a career best.
Milan Lucic on the intensity of Friday's practice in preparation for the game vs. the Blues:
"You practice like you play. If you are intense in practice, you are intense in games. The main thing is to just bring the same intensity into tomorrow. That's the thing this team of year. Getting points and winning hockey games but also making sure the fine tune parts of your game are there and you are sharp on the way we check, the way we play in the defensive zone. Just making sure the quality details of our game are there on a game to game basses and that's something he's (Darryl) is going to harp on us more than anything with the games we have left."
