5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. DUCKS

FLAMES (35-26-15) @ DUCKS (34-34-6)

6 p.m. MT | TV: Sportsnet West | RADIO: Sportsnet 960 The FAN

2022-23 Season Series: 2-1-0

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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Natasha Staniszewski
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
'Fun Coming to the Rink' - Stecher
Projected Lineup
Say What - 'Guys Are Feeling Confident'
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
2022-23 Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Tyler Toffoli (69)
Goals - Tyler Toffoli (33)
Ducks:
Points - Trevor Zegras (59)
Goals - Trevor Zegras (22)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 20.3% (20th) / PK - 81.8% (9th)
Ducks:
PP - 16.2% (31st) / PK - 72.8% (31st)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 57.01% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 53.01% (11th)
Ducks:
Shot Attempts: 42.80% (32nd)
High-Danger Chances: 38.96% (32nd)
###

1. LAST TIME OUT
   In a season of highs, lows and everything in between, there was no guessing what a win like that meant to this group.
   You could hear the emotion spill over in the bowels of Rogers Arena, with the biggest of Tyler Toffoli's 33 tallies this year lifting the Flames to a 5-4 victory in overtime.
   The Flames never led until that moment. They spotted the Canucks a two-goal lead, but rallied from that, along with two other one-goal deficits, to keep their season alive, only hours after the Winnipeg Jets took a four-point lead in the wild-card race.
   The 'biggest game of the year' turned to the biggest win of the year.
   And then, the biggest bash in the winning dressing room to mark the occasion afterward.
   "It's about time we came back and won a game," said Toffoli, whose team prevailed for the first time all season when trailing after two periods (0-18-3). "It's about time we came back and won a game. We needed it. Obviously, it feels good."
   Before ending it with his dramatic OT winner, Toffoli opened the scoring for the Flames with a cheeky little backhand, sliding in off the right wing and freezing Canucks netminder Thatcher Demko to convert a pass from Andrew Mangiapane.
   With it, Toffoli set a new career high for goals in a single season - but clearly felt the need for an encore, in the building he briefly called home.
   It's fitting, really.
   Toffoli has been the Flames' best and consistent offensive contributor, all season. Asked where his team would be without No. 73's heroics this year, Head Coach Darryl Sutter put it plainly:
   "What's he got, 33? You take those two 40's out (Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk) and that's exactly why we're still in it - it's those guys that score those big goals for you."
   Speaking of 'big goals,' the Flames not only got them courtesy of their top sniper, but Jonathan Huberdeau may have single-handedly kept the Flames in the playoff hunt with his biggest of the year, banking a sharp-angle try off Demko and in with 3:13 to play in regulation to force overtime.
   Huberdeau, who had a penalty shot earlier in the game but ran out of real estate on his backhand deke, was a force all evening.
   "He missed the penalty shot and that can probably go the other way with your game, but he didn't," Sutter explained." He got better. … He's got to be a clutch player for us. What does it mean? He could have a lot of them. I give him credit for hanging in there tonight."
   Blake Coleman and Troy Stecher rounded out the offence, while Jacob Markstrom finished with 16 stops.
   As good as that win felt - and as jubilant as the postgame celebration was - it doesn't mean anything in the long run unless they can do it again tonight. So, it begs the question: Can an emotional victory like that do more for the group than the two points in the standings?
   "No, because that's all it gets you is two points," Sutter said with a smile. "You don't get any extras."

The Flames have now won three straight for the first time since Dec. 3-7.
### 2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY
The Ducks were blanked 6-0 by the Oilers last night in Edmonton to lose their seventh straight.
Leon Draisaitl recorded his eighth-career hat-trick, while Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman and Darnell Nurse also lit the lamp. Jack Campbell turned aside all 36 Anaheim shots to post his first shutout as an Oiler.
At the other end, John Gibson stopped 31 of 36 before exiting the game midway through the third period with a lower-body injury. Lukas Dostal came on in relief and made eight saves on nine shots on the rest of the way.
The Ducks - who've scored just two goals in their last three games - are now third-last in the NHL's overall standings and if the draft lottery were to happen today, they would have an 11.5% chance of winning the Connor Bedard sweepstakes.
### 3. FAST FACTS
CENTURY MARK:
Troy Stecher collected his 100th NHL point with an assist on Blake Coleman's goal on Friday in Vancouver. In doing so, the 28-year-old became the 11th active, undrafted player to achieve that mark. Stecher later scored in the game, giving him his first multi-point effort since April 15, 2021, when he was a member of the Detroit Red Wings. Stecher now has five points (2G, 3A) in 15 games since being acquired by the Flames at the trade deadline.
DID YOU KNOW?
Friday's victory was the NHL's 138th multi-goal comeback win of the season, tying the 2018-19 campaign for the most in league history.
Entering Saturday's games, Tyler Toffoli was tied with Bruins forward David Pastrnak for the most road goals in the NHL since Dec. 18 with 18.
Stick tap to Flames Public Relations Coordinator Jordan Bay for compiling these notes.
Follow him and the Flames PR team @NHLFlamesPR on Twitter for more.
### 4. PLAYERS TO WATCH
Flames - Mikael Backlund
Everyone likes a redemption story.
When Backlund turned the puck over at the offensive blueline (a rarity in itself), leading to Conor Garland's opening goal the other night in Vancouver, you knew he would have something special up his sleeve to help make amends.
First, he found Blake Coleman with a nifty pass in traffic to make it a 2-2 game in the second, before setting up Toffoli's game-winner with a sublime bit of sauce on a 2-on-1 in OT.
"Tough play early in the first period. Stupid play," Backlund surmised. "It felt really good that the team found a way to come back and (after) making that play in the first period, to be able to pass for the winning goal makes you feel really good."
That's the Mikael Backlund we've come to know this year.
The distributor.
Friday's win was Backlund's seventh multi-assist game of the season, and he is now only one point away from tying a new career high in points (53).

Ducks - Jakob Silfverberg
While goals have been hard to come by for this team, Silfverberg is the hottest Duck with three assists in his last five games. He also leads all Anaheim skaters with three points (1G, 2A) in three head-to-head meetings with the Flames this year.
### 5. QUOTABLE
Blake Coleman on the big win in Vancouver:
"I'm proud of the way that our team responded in all those situations. We had to prove to ourselves that we could come from behind and prove to ourselves that we could win a big overtime game, and we did. Guys stepped up. At the end of the day, it's another two points that we needed - but the way we won it, it's a good step forward."
On the playoff race and the rising belief in the dressing room:
"There's been times where maybe the belief has kind of wavered, whether it be in the room, media, wherever it is. I think it's maybe the strongest it's been all year right now. Guys are feeling confident in their games. It's still going to be hard work and it's still an uphill climb - it's not going to be easy to leapfrog a team in the standings at this time of the year and with this many games left - but I like where we're at and I like our group right now. As long as guys keep this preparation and buy-in, it's going to be a really exciting last couple weeks."
On facing the Ducks tonight:
"The game against Winnipeg doesn't matter if you don't set yourself up for it. The focus is on Anaheim right now. ... They've beat us before in our building. There are no easy games in this league. If you look past a team, you're going to be in trouble. Our mindset is really strong right now and this team will be ready."