'Hockey Night in Canada': 5 Storylines

The Calgary Flames will honor forward Jarome Iginla by retiring his No. 12 prior to hosting the Minnesota Wild at Scotiabank Saddledome in the second half of a "Hockey Night in Canada" doubleheader on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, SN360, SN1, CITY, FS-N, NHL.TV). Iginla scored 525 of his 625 NHL goals with the Flames and was their captain from 2003-04 until he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 28, 2013.

In the first game, the Toronto Maple Leafs (39-21-4) will try to defeat the Buffalo Sabres (30-26-8) at home for the second time this week when they play at Scotiabank Arena (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SN1, MSG-B, NHL.TV). Toronto defeated the Sabres 5-3 on Monday.
Here are 5 storylines to keep an eye on:

Honoring Iginla

Before the Flames try to extend their lead in the Pacific Division and Western Conference, they'll pay tribute to Iginla, who holds many of their offensive records. Iginla scored 525 of his 625 NHL goals with the Flames and is their all-time leader in games played (1,219), goals and points (1,095). He won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal-scorer twice, was a two-time 50-goal scorer and in 2001-02 won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's top scorer and the Lester B. Pearson Award (now the Ted Lindsay Award), given to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by his peers. Iginla had a blend of skill and power few players have been able to match, and he's arguably the greatest player in Flames history.

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Flames go for eighth straight win

The one thing Iginla was unable to do in Calgary is win the Stanley Cup, something this season's Flames could accomplish. Calgary (41-16-7) brings a seven-game winning streak into the game against the Wild and leads the San Jose Sharks by five points in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference. One big reason for their surge has been the play of goalie Mike Smith, who has regained the No. 1 job after David Rittich got most of the playing time from November through the All-Star break in late January. Smith is 5-0-0 in his past five starts, allowing 10 goals during that span. The Flames also have one of the deepest offenses in the NHL; four players have scored at least 25 goals and five have at least 60 points.

Video: CGY@NYI: Smith gloves down Boychuk's slap shot

Wild hanging on to playoff spot

Minnesota (31-27-6) has won four in a row following a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) to reclaim the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Wild begin Saturday even in points with the Colorado Avalanche, who have played one more game, and are one point ahead of the surging Arizona Coyotes, who have won five straight. One problem for Minnesota has been penalty-killing; the Wild have allowed at least one power-play goal in nine consecutive games and allowed 16 goals on 47 opportunities in 14 games last month. They have also lost seven of their past nine games to Calgary, including two this season, when they scored a total of one goal.

Maple Leafs try to regroup

Toronto defeated Buffalo at Scotiabank Arena on Monday and cruised to a 6-2 win against the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. But the Maple Leafs' three-game winning streak was ended decisively when they lost 6-1 to the New York Islanders in center John Tavares' return to Long Island on Thursday. Despite that loss, the Maple Leafs trail the Boston Bruins by three points in the race for second place in the Atlantic Division and have opened a five-point lead on the Montreal Canadiens for third place. With a three-game trip to Western Canada on the schedule next week, this is a game Toronto needs to win to boost its hopes of passing Boston and getting the home-ice edge in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Sabres running out of time

Buffalo's 10-game winning streak early in November has become an increasingly distant memory. The Sabres kept their playoff hopes alive by rallying to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in overtime at KeyBank Center on Friday, but they are seven points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with two teams (the Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers) ahead of them. Even with the win against Pittsburgh, Buffalo is 2-5-1 in its past eight games. The Sabres have to tighten up defensively; they've given up 30 goals in their past eight games and needed a 41-save performance by goalie Linus Ullmark on Friday to have a chance to rally for the win against Pittsburgh.