'START ON OUR TOES'

Take one look at the standings … and toss them in the trash.
That's what makes the NHL's adored, all-Canadian division a real treasure this year.
The Vancouver Canucks are desperate to fend off the Flames and avoid a seventh straight loss tonight, but regardless of what the team records and personal stats tell us, these long-time rivals are closely matched and fit for a battle on Hockey Day in Canada.
In this division, there are no freebies on the bingo card.

"You've got to make sure you're moving your feet and you're ready to compete," said Head Coach Geoff Ward. "You've got to make sure that you're making the easy plays to execute and take what's given to you.
"When they're coming so hard, if you're not skating, they're going to be right on top of you, so we've got to try and create a little more time and space for ourselves.
"Really, we need to make sure that we have the opportunity to establish our own forecheck. Those things are all critical in early parts of a hockey game, and the cleaner we are in the guts of our own game, the better start we're going to have. So, tonight, that's a real focus for us.
"We know they're coming hard - but every team is coming hard. That's the way it is. In our division, if you're not ready to play, you're going to find yourself playing on our heels.
"Tonight, our goal is to start on our toes."

This is the second of four straight meetings between these two over the next week, and the fourth overall in the first quarter of the campaign.
The Flames have taken all three to this point, out-scoring the Canucks 11-3 in the process. Jacob Markstrom has been absolutely stellar against his old team, stopping 90 of the 93 shots he's faced for a sparking .968 save percentage in three outings.
Markstrom - unsurprisingly - will get the nod between the pipes again tonight.
While the Flames did pick up a 3-1 win over the Canucks on Thursday to open this unique, four-game set, it wasn't the 'prettiest' of victories.
Not that they're complaining.
But coming off a flawless game against the Winnipeg Jets only 48 hours earlier, the Flames were hoping to carry over the effort and bring a similar, 60-minute mindset into this mini-series on the West Coast.
The Flames got off a bit of a slow start and were outshot 24-14 in the opening 40 minutes, but - to their credit - the club showed great revolve, scoring an insurance marker early in the final frame before locking it down the rest of the way.
You know the old adage, 'We got better as the game along'? In this case, they absolutely did and are full marks for that nifty bit of resilience.
Still, the Flames are far from satisfied and know they have another gear to get to.
And to better withstand the early Canucks push.
"We've got to be better," said captain Mark Giordano. "We've got to be better with our breakouts - making those, as D men, we've got to make plays to the middle and hit our centremen when (the Canucks) are coming down the wall, like they were the other night, and even through the neutral zone.
"We've got to be cleaner with our breakouts and - I know we always say it - but we've got to get pucks behind their D when they're stepping up like that and let them play in their zone."

With this being the 14th game of the season, the Flames are officially at the quarter mark of the campaign. With a 7-5-1 record for 15 points, they currently sit fifth in the division, but are fourth in points percentage (.577), putting them into a playoff spot.
The skipper laughed and chose not to assign a letter grade for the first month and half, but did say the Flames are trending in the right direction with three victories, giving them a solid foundation to build off.
"In school, with my son, they say 'excellent,' 'very good' and all that," Giordano said with a smile. "But I would say we're not where we want to be, 100%, as a team.
"We've had moments where we've been really good. But we know that we can get to a way more consistent, 60-minute game, night in and night out.
"I think we're trending in the right direction, but we're not quite there yet."