5 Things - Flames @ Predators

1. Tenne-Seeing Red

The Flames landed in Nashville early Monday morning with an eye on salvaging a split from this two-game, Central Division road swing.

Sunday's defeat in Dallas was frustrating, no doubt, but the group went right back to work Monday in an up-tempo, hard-skating practice in the Music City.

The road woes are no secret; Calgary comes in to this clash in Nashville having dropped eight straight games away from the Scotiabank Saddledome, but veteran forward Jonathan Huberdeau knows full well the key to getting out of the slump is for him and his mates to keep their heads held high.

"We’re not in a bad spot, so I think we can’t get frustrated," Huberdeau said after Sunday's game. "We’ve got to try to stay positive, and find a way. Find a way to get a win.

"You know, that’s our last road game before Christmas. That’s the one we need to focus on. Regroup, and go back on Tuesday."

Calgary sits one point out of a Western Conference playoff spot - albeit with tonnes of hockey still left to play.

But after the start this team has enjoyed, it's hard not to look at the standings, even on Dec. 10.

The Flames have six games left before Christmas, with tonight marking the lone road contest over that stretch.

A perfect chance to turn those road fortunes around.

And if you ask Ryan Huska, Sunday's loss presented some positive signs, but also helped highlight some areas of improvement.

"We had some stretches where I liked what we were doing, we had some good zone time," Huska said Sunday. "I thought we had some decent looks around their net, but how we were away from the puck, with the odd-man rushes against, that to me, is the difference between winning and losing.

"And that’s where we’re struggling a little bit on the road. I think it was seven or eight odd-man rushes against, two-on-ones, those type of things. Those are quality chances that you can’t give up, especially on the road."

The Flames' M.O. has been commitment to checking, a defence-first strategy that's propelled them to one of the best home records in the NHL.

Tonight in Nashville, they'll get one last crack at putting a couple of road points in that proverbial Christmas stocking.

2. Know Your Enemy

Nashville has had road woes of their own, collecting just one of eight points over a four-game trip that included stops in Minnesota, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

The Predators return to Bridgestone Arena having lost their last seven games, the latest of which came in the form of a 3-1 defeat Saturday against the Senators.

Fedor Svechkov broke Linus Ullmark's shutout bid with 1:57 to play, in a game Nashville head coach Andrew Brunette figured his team perhaps deserved a better fate.

“It's tough,” Brunette told reporters after the contest. “I thought the effort was there, a couple of mistakes there in the second period, and when you're not scoring, goals are hard to recover from.

"But you appreciate the effort. The effort’s there, and we’ll break free at some point. I know we chased the game a little bit, but we did a lot of pretty good things, and it's not going in for us right now.”

Nashville was dealt another blow last week, when it was announced centre Ryan O'Reilly will be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, while defenceman Jeremy Lauzon was also placed on injured reserve.

Five of the Predators' seven wins this season have come on home ice, and that's where leading goal-getter Filip Forsberg has excelled, too.

Seven of Forsberg's nine goals in 2024-25 have occurred in the Music City.

3. Fast Facts

2024-25 Season Series

Calgary holds a 1-0 advantage in the season series with Nashville after scoring a 2-0 win Nov. 15 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Daniil Miromanov broke a scoreless tie with a shot from the right circle 6:38 into the third period, and Blake Coleman added an empty-net insurance marker, as goaltender Dustin Wolf recorded his first career NHL shutout with a 29-save performance.

After tonight's game, the two sides will meet once more, Jan. 4, back in Calgary.

Did You Know

Martin Pospisil was a wrecking ball Sunday night in Dallas, recording a team-high - and personal season-best - eight hits in the setback to the Stars.

His first, a check in the neutral zone in front of the Dallas bench, led directly to Calgary's opening goal.

Pospisil and MacKenzie Weegar hold the team lead for hits in the month of December with 12 apiece.

4. Lineup Notes

The Flames skated Monday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena in preparation for tonight's game.

Here's how the team lined up:

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil
Yegor Sharangovich - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato
Blake Coleman - Connor Zary - Andrei Kuzmenko
Jakob Pelletier - Kevin Rooney - Walker Duehr

Defence

Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar - Daniil Miromanov
Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal
Joel Hanley - Tyson Barrie

Goaltenders

Dan Vladar
Dustin Wolf

Note: Ryan Lomberg did not travel with the team, as he and his wife, Marissa, are expecting a child.

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Jonathan Huberdeau

Huberdeau - who takes a four-game point streak into Tuesday's contest - cashed in Sunday with his team-leading ninth goal of the season, on a crisp cross-ice pass from Nazem Kadri 1:00 into proceedings.

The goal was the fourth opening-minute goal of Huberdeau's career and second as a member of the Flames; he scored 49 seconds into a contest in Buffalo Oct. 19, 2023.

His line - with Kadri and Martin Pospisil - outchanced the Stars 5-1 at even strength Sunday (per Natural Stat Trick) and held a team-high 88.89 Corsi percentage.

Predators - Roman Josi

The smooth-skating defenceman leads the Predators in goals (six), assists (five) and points (11) since the last meeting between these two sides Nov. 15.

He hit a career milestone last month, too, surpassing 700 career NHL points.

Josi enters tonight's contest with multi-point efforts in two of his last five games, and is ranked third in the NHL in average ice-time at 25:40 per game.