5 Things - Flames vs. Canucks

1. Feelin’ Hot

The Flames have a chance to do something tonight they haven’t done since opening night.

Move above the .500 mark.

The locals continue a six-game homestand against the Canucks at the Scotiabank Saddledome, hosting the club’s second annual Indigenous Celebration Game against their Pacific Division rivals. Get tickets

Calgary is 4-1-0 in divisional play so far this season, including an emphatic 5-2 win against Vancouver in mid-November, a victory that played a role in setting the club’s current course as the calendar shifts to December.

"I think our guys like where they're going right now as a team and I think we're playing in the right direction,” Head Coach Ryan Huska said Friday. “We know that Vancouver is a team that's ahead of us and one that we have to work to close the gap against, so we're looking forward to that because of that reason.”

And the Flames should have reason to feel good. Thursday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Dallas Stars saw Calgary improve to 2-0-0 on their current homestand, while the 16 shots on goal surrendered to the Stars are a new season low.

This team has proven it’s got a flair for the dramatic, too. Back-to-back overtime triumphs have helped contribute to a 10-10-3 overall record, with half of those victories coming via third-period comebacks.

Defenceman MacKenzie Weegar enters Saturday’s contest tied for the team lead in goals with six. He authored the overtime decider Monday against Vegas and scored the game-tying goal against Dallas on Thursday.

“We feel great. Definitely some dramatic fashions to the last few games, for sure, all the comebacks, overtime wins,” Weegar said Friday. “We were the better team last night and I think we've just continued to get better along November.

“It was a great month for us and we've got to keep that same mentality in December.”

2. Know Your Enemy

The Flames will know one member of the Canucks especially well, with Nikita Zadorov slated to make his Vancouver debut after being dealt Thursday afternoon.

He joins a Canucks squad that dropped a 4-1 decision on home ice to the Golden Knights Thursday evening.

It’s a unique scenario, for sure; equipment moved from one end of the hallway to the other, Flames red, yellow and black swapped out for Canucks blue and green.

“We’re really excited,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters Thursday. “He’s a big guy, he can skate and he can shoot.

“We need minutes. We’re playing some other guys too much, and you can tell it’s starting to wear on our defence and he’s a much-needed guy.”

Vancouver enters play tonight sitting second in the Pacific Division with 31 points, three back of first-place Vegas.

After a flying start to the season, one that included an 8-0-1 stretch from Oct. 21 through Nov. 9, the Canucks have stumbled a bit since losing at the ‘Dome in mid-November.

Vancouver owns just three wins, and six points, from their past eight contests, giving up four or more goals in five of those games.

Despite that, captain Quinn Hughes and company feel as though their team has turned a corner, after missing out on post-season play in each of the past three years.

“It’s hard to see right now, but I feel we’re not that far off,” Hughes told reporters following Thursday’s loss to the Golden Knights.

“We’ve got to look forward to Calgary next.”

3. Fast Facts

2023-24 Season Series:

The Flames and Canucks will meet four times, with tonight’s game marking the second chapter of the season series.

Calgary scored a 5-2 win on home ice Nov. 16, breaking open a 1-1 draw with a pair of goals in both the second and third periods.

Elias Lindholm led all scorers with a goal and two assists.

After tonight’s game, the series will shift to Vancouver for games Mar. 23 and Apr. 16.

Did You Know?

Defenceman Chris Tanev surpassed a painful milestone in Thursday’s win over Dallas, recording the 1,500th blocked shot of his career.

Over the course of his NHL career, Tanev has averaged 6.09 blocked shots per game, and leads the Flames this season, having stepped in front of 56 shots through 23 contests.

4. Roster Notes

The Flames rolled out the following line combinations in Thursday’s win against the Stars:

Forwards

Andrew Mangiapane - Elias Lindholm - Yegor Sharangovich
Connor Zary - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil
Jonathan Huberdeau - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman
A.J. Greer - Adam Ruzicka - Dillon Dube

Defence

MacKenzie Weegar - Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin - Chris Tanev
Dennis Gilbert - Jordan Oesterle

Goaltenders

Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar

And now, a new member has re-entered the fold.

On Friday, the team recalled defenceman Ilya Solovyov from the AHL's Calgary Wranglers.

"I think what we look for out of him when he gets himself into the lineup... The way we play in our own zone, size matters, at times," Huska said of the 6-foot-3, 208-lb. blueliner. "One thing that you see from him is a young man that's not afraid to get in front of pucks and block them, similar to what we see from Tanny (Chris Tanev) a lot of times. For a young guy coming in, there's always energy and excitement around him. The push for him is to make sure he's consistent with his play in terms of moving the puck quickly and keeping the game simple.

"Early on - like you see from Connor (Zary) and Marty (Pospisil) - it's easy to bring the energy to the rink every day and now it's a challenge to make sure it's consistent and happens all the time. As he gets going, we're looking for him to be quick and be simple with his play.”

5. Players to Watch

Flames - Jonathan Huberdeau

Huberdeau has found his stride, recording his third multi-point game out of his last eight contests two nights ago against Dallas.

His last time out against Vancouver, the veteran winger scored once - a roof job that put the home side ahead 4-1 - and added an assist, helping Calgary to a 5-2 win.

Known for his playmaking abilities, Huberdeau has been shooting the puck more of late, too, with 11 shots on goal from his last four games.

Canucks - Elias Pettersson

Pettersson’s torrid pace to start the season has tapered off a bit, but the Swedish forward has reached the 30 point mark after a goal on Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.

He sits second among Vancouver forwards in points and is one of three Canucks skaters in the top nine among NHL scoring leaders (J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes are the others).

Held off the scoresheet in four of Vancouver’s last six games, Pettersson scored one of the two Canucks goals in the Nov. 16 season series opener, a 5-2 Flames win.