5 Things - Flames vs. Sharks

1. End Of The Line

The Traveling Wilburys went there in 1988.

The Flames reach the conclusion of their 2023-24 campaign tonight, when they host the Sharks on Fan Appreciation Night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Get tickets

It’s not the position anyone in the Calgary dressing room wanted to be in when they opened the season with a 5-3 win over Winnipeg Oct. 11, but you can’t fault the Flames for putting on a brave face since it was confirmed that postseason play wouldn’t be a part of the club’s short-term future.

Repeatedly, players and coaches alike have discussed the process, the importance of showing up to work even when their fate was sealed and for the most part, this team has done exactly that over the past month or so.

The season has brought about some intriguing storylines to take beyond tonight’s tilt with San Jose: Nazem Kadri’s emergence as a leader and mentor; Connor Zary’s dependability and drive in his first NHL campaign; MacKenzie Weegar’s innate ability to create offence from defence, just to name a few.

Tonight, fans will get one more chance to see those stories play out, while the players will get the opportunity to do something that 15 of the 16 playoff teams won’t do: end the season on a winning note.

There are some personal milestones at stake, too.

Kadri is one goal away from his third career 30-goal campaign, while Blake Coleman (should he draw back into the lineup) can reach the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career with one tally too.

Weegar sits on 19 goals - a hair away from a nice, round figure of 20, and a feat achieved by only five Flames defencemen since the 1992-93 season.

Not only that, he’s got a shot at becoming the first blueliner ever (since shot-blocking records were introduced) to notch 20 goals and 200 blocked shots in the same season.

Head coach Ryan Huska has been asked a few times over the course of the past week about the importance of milestones, and while acknowledging how special they can be, he’s also made mention of the fact that the pursuit of said milestones can’t get in the way of the team’s objectives.

He’s bent on reinforcing good habits, things to build on for 2024-25.

Tonight against San Jose, there’s one more opportunity to put those habits into practice.

2. Know Your Enemy

The season will also draw to a close for San Jose tonight, and barring a win over the Flames this evening, the Sharks will finish the campaign as the lone NHL club with fewer than 20 wins.

San Jose lands in the Stampede City after a 9-2 loss Monday night in Edmonton; Danil Gushchin and Fabian Zetterlund scored the lone Sharks goals, while the Oilers put home all nine of their tallies over the first 36 minutes of play.

In the Bay Area, there’s plenty of optimism about what could transpire in June at the NHL Draft. San Jose is expected to have the best odds in this year’s Draft Lottery and with those odds, the opportunity to potentially bring Macklin Celebrini home.

The Boston University forward was born in North Vancouver, B.C., but the Celebrini family made the Bay Area home a few years back when Macklin’s father, Rick, was hired by the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

This season, Celebrini took home the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men’s hockey after scoring 32 goals and 64 points for the Terriers, and he enters the Draft as the top-ranked North American Skater in the recently-released NHL Central Scouting final rankings.

There’s still some luck involved, but in their crystal ball, the Sharks must be chomping at the bit at the prospect of adding Celebrini to a young forward group of Zetterlund, William Eklund, prospect Will Smith and more.

Tonight, they’ll close the book on 2023-24, but there’s reason to be fearful of Shark-infested waters for years to come.

3. Fast Facts

2023-24 Season Series

The road team has won each of the prior two meetings between the Flames and Sharks this season, with Calgary claiming a 3-2 overtime triumph nine days ago at the SAP Center.

Andrei Kuzmenko played OT hero for the Flames in a game they trailed 2-0 at one point; goals from Rasmus Andersson and Nazem Kadri helped force overtime, while Dustin Wolf earned the victory in goal in his first NHL contest in his home state of California.

San Jose won the season series opener by a 6-3 scoreline at the ‘Dome Feb. 15, with Kadri, Kuzmenko and Mikael Backlund providing the offence for the home side.

Did You Know?

Tuesday’s contest in Vancouver marked the sixth time this season in which the Flames have fired 40 or more shots on goal - a total that includes the last meeting between Calgary and San Jose nine days ago.

This season’s high-water mark of 47 shots on goal was registered Nov. 1 against the Stars, a game that also marked Connor Zary’s NHL debut.

On the other side of the coin, Calgary has surrendered 40 or more shots on goal five times this season.

All five of those games were played away from the Scotiabank Saddledome.

4. Drawing Is Art

When Canucks forward Dakota Joshua was assessed an elbowing minor during Tuesday’s first period at Rogers Arena, it marked the 41st time this season that Nazem Kadri has drawn a penalty.

Seems like a lot, doesn’t it?

Well it is. In fact, according to Natural Stat Trick, Kadri ranks fourth among NHL skaters this season with 41 drawn penalties.

Expand it a bit further, Kadri’s been assessed only 14 minors and one major himself this season, meaning he’s 26 to the good in terms of infractions taken versus penalties drawn.

The Tkachuk brothers, Matthew and Brady, sit 1-2 on the circuit with 46 and 43 drawn penalties, respectively.

5. Players To Watch

Flames - MacKenzie Weegar

Weegar is bidding to become just the third Flames defenceman in the 21st century to score 20 goals in a season (Dion Phaneuf did it in his rookie campaign of 2005-06, while Mark Giordano scored 21 times a decade later).

You can bet he’ll shoot the puck tonight if given the chance - Weegar ranks third on the team with 206 shots on target, trailing only Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund.

His 16 even-strength markers in 2023-24 are two better than the next most proficient NHL blueliner.

Weegar has one career goal in 13 games against the Sharks - that came in March of last year in a 5-3 Calgary victory.

Sharks - Collin Graf

Graf was one of the more highly-touted free agents to come out of the NCAA this spring, and has skated in six contests with the Sharks since signing with San Jose earlier this month.

Graf collected an assist in his second NHL game and over the last two weeks, he’s seen his ice-time steadily increase, from 13:36 in his debut to a career-high 19:12 Monday at Rogers Place.

The 21-year-old reached the 20-goal mark in each of his last two collegiate seasons at Quinnipiac and wore a letter for the Bobcats this past winter.