5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. MAPLE LEAFS
The Flames welcome the Buds to the 'Dome for the only time this year
Video: Brendan Parker sets up tonight's game
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Power on Power
Projected Lineup
Say What - 'We've Got to Keep it Going'
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (55)
Goals - Andrew Mangiapane (22)
Maple Leafs:
Points - Auston Matthews (53)
Goals - Matthews (31)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 21.6% (12th) / PK - 84.6% (3rd)
Maple Leafs:
PP - 30.3% (1st) / PK - 84.5% (4th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 55.54% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 56.16% (2nd)
Maple Leafs:
Shot Attempts: 52.74% (7th)
High-Danger Chances: 54.24% (6th)
It had … well, everything.
From beautiful plays and impossible saves, to a passionate crowd engrossed by it all.
The Flames put on a show Wednesday, beating up on the (formerly) first-place Vegas Golden Knights with a clinical 6-0 victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The offence ran roughshod.
And their No.-1 puck-stopper continued to be stellar, inching ever closer to the grandmaster Miikka Kiprusoff's franchise record for shutouts in a single season.
Too early to call it a statement game?
Perhaps.
But the Flames - winners of four straight - are now atop the Pacific in points percentage, officially attaining 'wagon' status in the process.
Because They. Are. Rollin'.
"Our first period really set up our game and when you're up 3-0 after one, that's really hard to come back from," said Matthew Tkachuk, who scored with his patented, between-the-legs move early in the third period. "We want to make this place a tough place to play and be known as a great first-period team, because when you dominate a first period like we did, it doesn't give the other team a ton of confidence."
Andrew Mangiapane scored twice, Mikael Backlund had a goal and three helpers, and Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Tkachuk added singles. Jacob Markstrom, meanwhile, made 28 saves to record his eighth bagel of the season.
…nin only 34 appearances.
That's one shutout every four games!
"Marky kept us in the game - and REALLY kept us in the game in that second period," Tkachuk said. "We were giving up a lot. Even though it might not have looked like it, Marky made some insane saves there. At that point it was a little too much run-and-gun, maybe, a little bit. There was a lot of rush chances for them and we don't want to be known as a team that gives up that much, especially against a team like that, that is really good off the rush. Thankful we had him to weather the storm and thought we played a better third to kind of shut them out and not give them any life."
With it being a back-to-back scenario, the Flames will not hold a morning skate prior to tonight's game. Stay tuned for word on the starting goaltender later this morning, or closer to puck drop.
Video: "It was a big win. That's what we needed"
This is the first of a three-game road trip for the Leafs, who are coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, and enter the night on a six-game winning streak.
Mitch Marner scored the OT winner after the tying the game late in regulation, while the hot hand of Auston Matthews tallied a pair in the middle frame to round out the offence.
Peter Mrazek made 28 stops in the victory.
Marner, meanwhile, has now scored 10 goals during an eight-game goal streak, which is the longest in franchise history since John Anderson had a 10-game spree in 1984-85.
"It was a bit of a crazy game there, taking the lead, getting the lead taken from us, and then coming back to tie that game," Marner told reporters after the game. "Just the work ethic, the battle we had tonight, it was something we talked about wanting to do more of going into the second half, and tonight was a great night to kind of start that."
The Leafs are an Eastern-leading 8-2-0 in their last 10 games and currently sit third in the Atlantic. Their .733 points percentage, however, is second best to the explosive Florida Panthers, but only by the slimmest of margins.
They did get a scare when Matthews took a knee to the head in the dying seconds of Monday's game, but the striker was a full participant at Wednesday's practice and declared himself ready to play.
"When I got back to the room, I was a bit shaken up," said Matthews, who brings a five-game point streak into tonight's game (6G, 6A). "Just happened so quick. Fortunately, I was able to calm down and everything checked out well. I'm fortunate it was nothing serious.
"It happened so quick. I felt like I got hit in the side of the head pretty hard and wasn't expecting it. But I felt fine the other night, felt good the next day throughout the day. Just talking with the medical team, there was no hesitation to jump in practice today and be right there at it."
The Buds look poised to make a deep run this year and with Matthews, Marner, William Nylander, Morgan Reilly and more on pace for new career highs, the Flames will have their hands full tonight against a team that loves to put up offence.
Video: Coach's take on tonight's big victory
YOUR DONUTS MAKE ME GO NUTS: With Markstrom's league-leading eight (the second-most in franchise history), the Flames now have 10 team shutouts this season, which required the seventh-fewest games (42) to reach in NHL history. The last team to record 10 shutouts in fewer games were the 2003-04 New Jersey Devils who did it in 41 games.
HOME SECURITY:Tonight marks the first time the Flames have played on back-to-back nights at home since Feb. 23-24, 2013. That was the lockout-shortened season when teams needed to cram 48 games into only a few months. (Naturally, this figure does not include last year, when the all-Canadian North Division played host to this arrangement on numerous occasions. But considering they were against the same opponent, they weren't 'true' back-to-backs. … The Flames have another home back-to-back set next week when they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets and Anaheim Ducks to the Scotiabank Saddledome. Another two sets in the final few months of the season will round out this unique scheduling quirk.
DID YOU KNOW? With last night's win over the Golden Knights, the Flames have now scored at least three goals in the first period for the fourth time this season. Only five teams have tallied at least thrice in the opening stanza more often in 2021-22: Florida (8x), Toronto (7x), Pittsburgh (6x), Edmonton (5x), Nashville (5x).
Video: VGK@CGY: Markstrom stops 28 in 8th shutout of season
Flames - Mikael Backlund
With a career-high four-point night, Backlund was named the first star of the game last night.
"(I) feel I've been playing better," he said, pointing to a four-game road trip in early January when the tide turned. "Just been trying to play more aggressively out there without the puck, trust my instincts more when I have the puck and make plays.
"I think after that I've been playing better and better and I hope I can keep this going and help the team get to the playoffs."
Backlund's game has been rounding into form for some time, and he enters tonight's game with eight points (3G, 5A) in his last nine games.
Maple Leafs - Auston Matthews
He's been good.
REAL good.
And with six goals in his last three games, the chase for the NHL's goal-scoring title is hitting high gear.
The 24-year-old has 31 in 40 games this year, and is easily on pace to shatter his previous career best of 47.
Jacob Markstrom on Matthew Tkachuk's tricky tuck:
"Obviously, I like all goals we score. But it's a great move, especially (when) the puck is behind the net and the goalie was looking on the other side. Nowadays, most goalies have their skates on both posts. It's a quick play to get it over the pad and back of the net. It's a great move, not surprised. He does that stuff all the time in practice as well as games, so it was good to see it go in."
Darryl Sutter on the artistry of that play:
"Those are high-end plays. Not everybody can try it. The guys that try it do it once and get it done."
