Game Day Notebook - 16.04.24

VANCOUVER - And then there were two.

With the Flames set to close out the regular season this week, the group is looking to end it with a pair of wins starting tonight in Vancouver for the fourth and final meeting of the season against the Canucks.

It's also a chance to play a bit of a spoiler role with Vancouver looking to clinch their first division title since the 2012-13 campaign, needing just a point to seal the deal.

"I think we’re still focusing on our process," Oliver Kylington said. "We don’t want them to clinch first place, we want to try to stop them (from doing) that, so we just have to focus on our play and come out ready."

And, perhaps the powerplay can be key in completing that task.

Over the past nine games, the Flames have scored 13 goals with the man-advantage and are clicking at an unreal rate of 41.9% during that span.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

"I think a lot of it is that they are feeling more confident now in their ability to go out on the ice and score," Flames head coach Ryan Huska said. "That's one thing, your offensive players feel good about themselves and it comes a little bit easier for them, I could say.

"I think Kuzy (Andrei Kuzmenko) has been a real driving force on the power play. He's made our power play better because he has the confidence with the puck on the goal line. Its a little more predictable now than what it was and I think their confidence is of such that they know they can step on the ice and not just generate momentum but there's a good chance for them to score goals again."

Klaps Your Hands

After being recalled from the Calgary Wranglers Monday morning, Huska confirmed this morning that forward Adam Klapka will play tonight.

The 23-year-old has skated in four games with the Flames this season and leads the Wranglers in scoring with 45 points (21G, 24A) in 64 games.

A mix of skill and grit, Klapka was seen grinning ear to ear as the team ran through some off ice workouts earlier in the day, being back with the big club and looking to make a big impression.

"When he plays the game in a straight line, he's able to play get in on forecheck and that's something we look for out of him," Huska said. "We want to see him rumble around a lot in the offensive zone. Once he has the puck, he has a good skill set that he can make some things happen, but we really want to see him in a game against a team that can play with some pace, that is a harder team to play against. We want to see if he can get himself in and have impact for our guys.

"We're looking forward to seeing what he's done. I know from all reports, he's gone down and done a very good job since the last time we saw him, so I'm looking forward to seeing how he does tonight."

Official lines and pairings will be confirmed during warmups.

Milestone Watch

A handful of milestones are on the cusp of being hit as the team preps for battle.

Oliver Kylington will play in his 200th career game tonight, becoming the 18th active Swedish defenceman to do so.

With his story of coming back and being the Flames' nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, you can't help but cheer him on in reaching the achievement.

"Special night, just fun," he said. "I’m just going to approach it as any other game, but it’s fun that it’s 200 now, and I’m gonna try to keep going as long as I can."

Meanwhile, Rasmus Andersson is one point away from 200 in his career, Mackenzie Weegar is one goal away from hitting the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career and Nazem Kadri is one marker from his second 30-goal campaign.

Getting the win is the focus first and foremost, but seeing guys hit those marks would be something special.

"If you have a chance to pass to one of those guys instead of shooting yourself, you’ll look to do that unless you know you have a lot better chance to score by shooting," Mikael Backlund said. "At the same time, it’s a fast game, when we’re out there, we just go but you know in the back of your head which guys are close to reaching some pretty big milestones."