5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. MAPLE LEAFS

FLAMES (27-21-13) vs. MAPLE LEAFS (37-16-8)

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

2022-23 Season Series: 0-0-1

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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
'Get The Job Done' 
Projected Lineup
Say What: 'Should Be A Fun Night'
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
2022-23 Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Tyler Toffoli (53)
Goals - Tyler Toffoli (25)
Maple Leafs:
Points - Mitch Marner (76)
Goals - William Nylander (33)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 19.9% (20th) / PK - 80.7% (14th)
Maple Leafs:
PP - 25.3% (5th) / PK - 81.5% (10th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 57.27% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 52.84% (11th)
Maple Leafs:
Shot Attempts: 51.42% (10th)
High-Danger Chances: 54.76% (7th)
Talk is cheap.
It's easy to say you believe - that you'll give your best effort and fight 'til the bitter end. But if you don't go out and back it up with action, what's the point?
Fact is, the Flames did that. They showed their mettle. They deserved two points on Tuesday against the Bruins.
But left the Scotiabank Saddledome that night with one.
There are no moral victories these days - not when you sit five points back of the final playoff spot. But if you put that game back on the ice tonight against the Maple Leafs, you'll win.
"I told a couple of the players today: I've been in lots of games, but I don't (remember) one where you've had 90-some shot attempts and lose," Head Coach Darryl Sutter said following Wednesday's practice.
For a man that's coached more than 1,600 games between the regular season and playoffs - the eighth-most, all time - that certainly speaks volumes.
The Flames poured a season-high 57 shots on Vezina frontrunner Linus Ullmark and allowed less than half that in an utterly dominant showing. That it came against the league's top team - one that is on pace to obliterate the NHL's all-time regular-season points record - is even more impressive.
The homeside battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the third, courtesy of Blake Coleman, Dillon Dube and Jonathan Huberdeau, but a couple of costly mistakes late forced overtime, where Charlie McAvoy delivered the dagger.
"Here's my take on last night: You get one point for effort, you get two for a win," Sutter said. "That's the key, right? The next part is the complete part of it. You get full marks and a pat on the back for overcoming bad goals and coming back against a good team like that. But then you get a 3-2 lead with a handful of minutes left and you can't take that 4-on-4 penalty. That plays into the star's hands, always, on the other team. You can't take that.
"And then you have to have the structure in your penalty-killing. Those are those little things. It had nothing to do with overtime. It had to do with coming into (overtime), right?
Dan Vladar got the start in goal, but was pulled after allowing two goals on five shots in the first period - including one on the first shot of the game.
Jacob Markstrom pitched a dandy in relief, but was victimized for two including the OT winner - but could do little about either.
Goaltending has been a hot topic around the 'Dome these days and with 21 games left, it sounds like the Flames will be giving their No.-1 puck-stopper the bulk of the assignments down the stretch.
"Absolutely," Sutter confirmed. "If you're in a series, that's how you've got to look at it.
"We've given up the second-fewest shots in the NHL, so we really should have a better record. That's past. You've got to deal with it. We need Marky to get hot. He's such a great teammate and a great guy.
"Now he's got to put his foot on it."

The Leafs are coming off a 5-2 loss to the Oilers last night in Edmonton, snapping a three-game winning streak.
David Kampf and Mitch Marner had the goals for the Toronto, while Ilya Samsonov made 27 saves.
"We just didn't play with any purpose or intelligence," groaned Head Coach Sheldon Keefe. "To me, our opponent tonight was very focused and very committed to playing together to win the game. We started fine, but the way we started the (first) penalty kill against the No. 1 powerplay in the history of the NHL... We get the first exit and gave it right back to them like we're not serious about winning. Those are our regular penalty-killers, our top people - and that's how we started the game. Didn't get much better from there.
"We got beat by a team that played a lot better than us."
Keefe noted that despite surrendering three goals on 14 shots in the first period, he did not consider pulling Samsonov.
It is, after all, a back-to-back scenario and the coach confirmed that Joseph Wall will get the nod tonight.
Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has been busy working the phones ahead of the trade deadline, swinging a number of trades over the past few weeks to bolster his team ahead of what looks to be another first-round playoff matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Here's a look at his trade board:
In:
D Luke Schenn, D Erik Gustafsson, D Jake McCabe, F Sam Lafferty, F Ryan O'Reilly, F Noel Acciari
Out:
D Rasmus Sandin, F Pierre Engvall, F Joey Anderson, F Pavel Gogolev
KEEP IT 100:
Blake Coleman scored his 100th career goal on Tuesday and in doing so, became just the second Texas-born NHLer to reach the 100-goal plateau, joining Brian Leetch (247). Coleman's 100 goals lead all active Texas-born skaters in the NHL, with Tyler Myers (88) and Seth Jones (76) currently ranking second and third.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Flames have the largest shots-on-goal per-game differential this season (+8.90) and are one of ONLY two teams with a differential above eight. (Carolina: +8.74)
Rasmus Andersson has four game-winning goals so far in 2022-23 - only four defencemen in franchise history have had more in a single campaign: Dion Phaneuf (7 in 2005-06), Dougie Hamilton (5 in 2016-17), Paul Reinhart (5 in 1984-85) and Al MacInnis (5 in 1993-94).
Stick tap to Flames Public Relations Coordinator Jordan Bay for compiling these notes.
Follow him and the Flames PR team @FlamesPR on Twitter for more.
Flames - Walker Duehr
This looks like a player that's found comfort at this level.
Turns out, the attitude matches the eye test.
"I'm here and I want to prove that I can stay here," said Duehr, who was absolutely flying on Tuesday against the Bruins. "And not only that, but that I can help the team win every night and be part of this playoff push."
The 25-year-old was recalled on Feb. 21 after a brief stop on the farm. He scored a big goal and picked up an assist in his first game back, and now has three tallies and four points in 12 games with the big club this year.
>> Click here to read the full story
Maple Leafs - William Nylander
Nylander had five points (2G, 3A) in a 5-4 overtime win over the Flames when these teams last met, back on Dec. 10 in Toronto.
On Tuesday, he had a seven-game point streak snapped and went -3 in the loss.
Elite players tend to bounce back and the 26-year-old is having a career year with 33 goals and 72 points already, and should easily eclipse his current career high of 80 - set last year - in short order.
Jacob Markstrom on allowing the first shot of the game seven times this year:
"You notice it when you're back there and you don't want it to happen. But when it happens, you've just to move on and stop the next one. If that goes in, then you have to stop the next one and so on. We've just got to come up with some saves. If it's shot 1 and 2 or 40 and 41 or 30 and 31, it's still two goals. Obviously, you don't want to start behind and start chasing the games, because I feel like it's easier to play with a lead than from behind."
On working on his game:
"You have to stick to it and just got to work on details and work on the game and trust that the goalie position is so much more mental than a lot of people think. It's the confidence level. You have to start building it in the gym and start building it in practice."
Is the confidence there right now?
"Highest ever."