5 Things - Flames @ Wild

1. Last Time Out

It's been quite a ride so far on this three-game road trip, which finishes off tonight against the Wild.

There's been plenty of offence - and plenty of suspense.

The Flames fell 6-5 to the Avs in Denver Monday night, and picked up a point a night later in a 5-4 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights. They led heading into the third period of both tilts.

They'd like nothing more now than to get two points tonight, playing their third game in four nights - in three different times zones - to finish things off.

Yegor Sharangovich had a pair of goals, while MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri also scored for Calgary in Sin City. Dustin Wolf got the start and was spectacular, making 34 saves - including a pair of shorthanded breakaway attemps by Chandler Stephenson and Jack Eichel.

Read the full game report by clicking here

The Flames and Wild faced off just last week on Dec. 5 at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the visitors skating to a 5-2 victory. Mikael Backlund and Connor Zary (more on him below) scored for the Flames in that outing.

2. Know Your Enemy

The Wild have found a spark since welcoming new head coach John Hynes.

Minny has won five of seven with Hynes behind the bench since he replaced Dean Evason, most recently a 3-0 blanking of the Kraken in Seattle on Sunday.

Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Joel Eriksson Ek scored for the Wild, while Filip Gustavsson made 24 saves.

Prior to that, they had lost back-to-back outings against the Canucks (2-0 on Dec. 7) and Oilers (4-3 on Dec. 8) following their win over the Flames on Dec. 5.

It was a good rebound, said Hynes.

“I think we got tested in the last two games (against the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers),” Hynes told NHL.com's Darren Brown “We talked to the team about playing more fast and direct, and I thought we did a good job of that. With our puck management, we were able to get on the attack and generated some really quality looks. Defensively, we were pretty tight 5-on-5.”

Overall, the Wild are 5-4-1 in their last 10, and sport a 5-4-2 record at the Xcel Energy Center.

3. Fast Facts

We Noah Guy:

With his assist on Yegor Sharangovich’s game-tying goal on Tuesday night in Vegas, Noah Hanifin recorded his 200th career assist. Hanifin is the first blueliner from the 2015 Draft to reach 200 assists in his NHL career, with his 200 helpers ranking eighth among all skaters from the 2015 class. The Boston product recorded the first 65 assists of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes and since being acquired by the Flames in 2018, Hanifin has recorded 135 helpers in 388 games here.

Kadri Stays Hot:

Nazem Kadri scored again on Tuesday in Vegas to give him goals in three straight games. On Monday, Kadri netted his 250th NHL goal to become the sixth player from the 2009 Draft to score 250 NHL goals, joining: John Tavares (435), Matt Duchene (323), Evander Kane (314), Chris Kreider (279), and Ryan O'Reilly (268). The streak marks Kadri’s first three-game goal streak as a member of the Flames, and he leads the team in points in the month of December with three goals and four assists.

4. Quotable

Connor Zary on striving for success in the NHL:

“Ya, I definitely think I’ve got a little more comfortable over time, over the last few weeks just being here and playing my game. But I think it’s a one-day-at-a-time league and nothing is given. So, I just try to have that mentality to come in every game and use it as a new chance, a new opportunity to prove myself and make sure I’m doing the right things to stay here.”

Read more on Zary by clicking here

5. Players to Watch

Flames - Yegor Sharangovich

The talented winger potted a pair against the Golden Knights - his first multi-goal game as a Flame - and has four goals in his last three games. His nine tallies leads the Flames in that category. He's also riding a four-game point streak and has found his way onto the scoresheet in five of his last six contests.

Wild - Matt Boldy

The former first-round pick (12th overall in 2019) has scored a goal in each of his last two games, and has six points in his last four outings, including two goals and three points against the Flames in the Wild's 5-2 win on Dec. 5.