5 Things - Flames @ Penguins

1. About Last Night

The worst thing about back-to-back games: the quick turnaround.

The best thing about back-to-back games when you lose the first one: the quick turnaround.

The Flames fell 5-2 to the Blue Jackets on Friday in a matinee and then hopped a plane to Pittsburgh to face Sidney Crosby and the Penguins tonight (5 p.m. MT, Sportsnet).

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Calgary will look to regroup and bounce back, hoping to end this four-game road trip with a win after going 0-2-1 so far.

“It’s on each guy … every guy in this room needs to be better tomorrow," said Blake Coleman after the loss. "It’s one of those things you look inside and see what you did, change up whatever you need to be better from the drop.

"These are games we need to start taking care of on the road if we want to be taken seriously as a playoff team here. It's early but it’s never too early to keep trying to climb up the standings. Good teams find ways to stop the bleeding.”

Rasmus Andersson was blunt in his assessment of the loss.

“First period was awful," he said. "Second period was awful. Just not good enough. It sucks and we gotta be better on the road. You can’t just win home games, you gotta win road games and we aren’t doing that as of this moment.”

Head Coach Ryan Huska said the key to turning around their fortunes of late is not complicated.

“It needs to look like our team," he explained. "That’s all. We just need to make sure we play the right way and we have a very particular style of hockey that we need to play to have success and we have to bring that tomorrow.”

Justin Kirkland left the game after the first period with a lower-body injury and there was no update on his condition following the tilt.

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2. Know Your Enemy

The Pens have won two straight, the most recent a 2-1 victory over the Bruins Friday night in Boston.

Charlie Coyle scored in the first period to give the homeside the lead but Rickard Rakell replied in the second and Philip Tomasino - acquired Monday in a deal with the Predators - tallied the game-winner at 7:26 of the third.

“I haven’t scored all year here, so definitely kind of a little bit of a relief,” Tomasino told NHL.com's Joe Pohoryles. “I thought our whole group tonight, and especially our line, I thought we were really clicking, so I thought it was only a matter of time [before] we were going to get one.”

Tristan Jerry made 31 saves in the victory.

“Coming down to a tight game in the last period, I guess the whole game, was really good for our whole group,” Jarry said. “From top to bottom, just blocking shots, keeping pucks down low, holding onto pucks. I think we held momentum most of the game, and I think that’s what really helped us down the stretch.”

The Flames and Pens met earlier this season, on Oct. 22 at the Scotiabank Saddledome, where Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri would score - the latter's tally coming in the last minute of regulation to force OT.

In the shootout, Justin Kirkland scored in the sixth round with his signature move and Dustin Wolf would then deny Evgeni Malkin for the 4-3 victory.

3. Fast Facts

Razzle Dazzle:

Rasmus Andersson enters play tonight with a team-leading 75 blocked shots this season. As of Nov. 29, Andersson’s 75 blocks lead all skaters in the NHL, and since the start of 2023-24, the only player on the Flames to block more shots is MacKenzie Weegar (264).

Back-to-Backs:

Following their 5-2 setback in Columbus yesterday, the Flames are set to complete their third back-to-back set of the season. In the Flames last set, they split the two contests on Nov. 11 vs. the Kings (3-1 W) and Nov. 12 at the Canucks (1-3 L). Calgary has a 3-2-0 record in back-to-back games so far this season, and following their game in Pittsburgh tomorrow night, Calgary’s next back-to-back will come on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29 when they face the Sharks and the Golden Knights on the road.

\ Stick tap to Flames PR's Jordan Bay for these tidbits*

4. Did You Know?

Matt Coronato scored his first NHL goal in Pittsburgh against the Penguins in Calgary’s last trip to PPG Paints Arena back on Oct. 14, 2023.

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Blake Coleman

He scored against the Blue Jackets - his fifth of the season - and led the team with six hits in the outing.

Penguins - Sidney Crosby

Kind of hard not to go with Sid the Kid, who leads the team with 24 points this season, and is second in goals with eight. Playing in his 20th season, the Pens captain has three assists in his last two outings.