CALGARY FLAMES NOTES:
FLAMES LAST GAME RECAP
DECEMBER 27, 2022 – CALGARY FLAMES [1] vs. EDMONTON OILERS [2]
The Calgary Flames returned home after the Christmas break for the third and final edition of the Battle of Alberta. The two teams came out to start the game firing with 19 first period shots with Calgary holding a 10-9 advantage but the score remained tied at zeros through a back and forth opening 20 minutes of play. In the second, Mikael Backlund opened the scoring with his seventh of the season, and fourth-straight game against the Oilers with a goal. Edmonton would respond with Tyson Barrie scoring his fifth on the campaign to square the game at one a piece and it remained that way at the end of 40. In the final frame, the Flames would outshoot Edmonton 24-4 but only Connor McDavid would find the back of the net on the power play. The Flames would hit a post in the dying seconds but fall 2-1 at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers.
CGY GOAL SCORERS: Backlund (7)
GOALIE: Markstrom (21/23, .913 Sv%)
PP: 0/4 (0%)
PK: 3/5 (60%)
FLAMES LAST FIVE RESULTS, RECORD: 3-1-1
DATE RESULT GWG CGY GOALIE OPP. GOALIE
December 27, 2022 EDM [2] vs. CGY [1] McDavid Markstrom Skinner
December 23, 2022 CGY [3] at ANA 2 Andersson Markstrom Dostal
December 22, 2022 CGY [3] at LAK 4 Kempe Vladar Copley
December 20, 2022 CGY [7] at SJS [3] Kadri Markstrom Reimer
December 18, 2022 CGY [5] at SJS [2] Lindholm Markstrom Kahkonen
*shootout winning goal
FLAMES UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
DATE TIME
(MST) OPPONENT VENUE
December 28, 2022 8:00pm at Seattle Kraken Climate Pledge Arena
December 31, 2022 8:00pm vs. Vancouver Canucks Scotiabank Saddledome
January 3, 2023 6:00pm at Winnipeg Jets Canada Life Centre
January 6, 2023 7:00pm vs. New York Islanders Scotiabank Saddledome
January 8, 2023 5:00pm at Chicago Blackhawks United Center
TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS
This is the second of three matchups this season between the Flames and Kraken. The Flames fell for the first time to Seattle in their first meeting back in November. This is a Pacific Division Matchup; The Flames have an overall record of 6-3-2 against Pacific Division opponents this season and a record of 10-5-2 against Western Conference opponents.
THIS SEASON VERSUS THE KRAKEN:
This is the second meeting this season between the Flames and Kraken and their first of two clashes at the Climate Pledge Arena. Their first contest came back on November 1st, 2022 which saw Seattle best Calgary for the first time ever in a 5-4 victory. Matty Beniers scored the game winner on that night for Seattle, while Lindholm had a pair of helpers and Toffoli had a goal and an assist for the Flames. Nazem Kadri also scored for Calgary amid a stretch where the centre recorded 10 points in eight games to start the season.
SUCCESS IN SEATTLE:
The Flames have made two trips to the Climate Pledge Arena since Seattle began play in the NHL in 2021, winning on both occasions. The Flames were victorious in an offensive showdown 6-4 on December 30th, 2021 during their first ever trip to Climate Pledge. The Flames outscored Seattle 3-2 in a five goal third period with goals from Mangiapane, Tkachuk and Hanifin to knock off the Kraken. Calgary also won their second trip to Seattle 4-1 in April of last season, Noah Hanifin recorded four assists in the April meeting while Jacob Markstrom put up a .964 SV% and turned aside 27 shots earning First Star honors.
BACK-TO-BACK:
The Flames will skate in their third back-to-back scenario in the month of December after hosting the Edmonton Oilers last night in Calgary. This will be Calgary’s fourth-straight game in a back-to-back scenario, the Flames finished up a California road-trip just prior to the Christmas break with back-to-back games against Los Angeles and Anaheim. The Flames took three of a possible four points with an overtime defeat at the hands of the Kings but bounced back for an overtime win over the Ducks the following night. Calgary has five more back-to-back sets remaining during the 2022-23 season, with their next one coming on January 26th against Colorado at home followed by their second and final trip to Seattle on January 27th
HOT STARTS:
The Flames have scored in the opening five minutes of the game 13 times so far this season, which leads the NHL. The Flames have scored in the game’s opening five minutes in three of their last four games, with their most recent occurrence coming in Anaheim on December 23rd courtesy of Michael Stone. Prior to that, Jonathan Huberdeau scored 3:23 into the game in Los Angeles on December 22nd and Tyler Toffoli and Dillon Dube both scored in the opening 30 seconds in San Jose on December 20th
KRAKEN HUNTER:
Elias Lindholm has recorded five points in five career meetings against the Seattle Kraken over his career. Lindholm had two assists in their first meeting back in November, tying him for third in points against the Kraken this season among all skaters, and is also tied for second among skaters to only face the Kraken once so far in 2022-23. He is currently second on the Flames in career points against Seattle, Trailing Nazem Kadri who scored in the two clubs first meeting this season, and has six points (2G, 4A) in four career games against the Kraken.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Calgary Flames were involved in the Seattle Kraken’s first ever trade. On July 22, 2021 the Flames acquired forward Tyler Pitlick from Seattle in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick. Calgary is one of only two franchises the Seattle Kraken have made multiple transactions with. The Flames have made two trades with the Kraken in Seattle’s short history, the only other team to make multiple trades with Seattle is
Washington.
CALGARY FLAMES vs. SEATTLE KRAKEN
ALL-TIME HOME AWAY L10 STRK
CGY vs. SEA 4-1-0-0 2-1-0-0 2-0-0-0 4-1-0 L1
GAME INFO:
Calgary Flames vs. Seattle Kraken
7:00pm PT
Climate Pledge Arena
TV: Sportsnet West
Radio: Sportsnet Fan 960
2022-23 Season Series: 0-1-0 (Home: 0-1-0, Road 0-0-0)
Nov. 1, 2022 – SEA [5] vs. CGY [4]
Dec. 28, 2022 – CGY vs. SEA
Jan. 27, 2023 – CGY vs. SEA
2021-22 Season Series: 4-0-0 (Home: 2-0-0, Road 2-0-0)
Last Home Win vs. SEA: April 12, 2022 – Calgary [5] vs. Seattle [3]
Last Road Win @ SEA: April 9, 2022 – Calgary [4] at Seattle [1]
Last Home Loss vs. SEA: November 1, 2022 – Seattle [5] vs. Calgary [4]
Last Road Loss @ SEA: TBD
2022-23 CALGARY FLAMES
FLAMES RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Dec. 8 – placed Kevin Rooney (F) on waivers; cleared waivers
Dec. 8 – recalled Matthew Phillips (F) from Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 9 – recalled Radim Zohorna (F) from Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 18 – recalled Dennis Gilbert (D) from Calgary (AHL); placed Chris Tanev (D) on IR (retroactive)
Dec. 20 – recalled Nick DeSimone (D) from Calgary (AHL); placed Dennis Gilbert (D) on IR
Dec. 20 – reassigned Radim Zohorna (F) to Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 24 – reassigned Matthew Phillips (F) and Nick DeSimone (D) to Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 27 – recalled Radim Zohorna (F) from Calgary (AHL)
FLAMES RECENT INJURIES (Total man games lost – 27)
Noah Hanifin – illness (1 game: Oct. 21)
Chris Tanev – upper-body (5 games: Nov. 3 – Nov. 10)
Jonathan Huberdeau – upper-body (3 games: Nov. 8 – Nov. 12)
Michael Stone – lower-body (11 games: Nov. 7 – Nov. 25)
MacKenzie Weegar – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 12)
Elias Lindholm – upper-body injury (1 game: Dec. 12)
Chris Tanev – upper-body injury (3 games: Dec. 14 – Dec. 18)
Radim Zohorna – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 18)
Dennis Gilbert – lower-body injury (4 games: Dec. 20 – Dec. 27)
RECORD BY MONTH
October November December January February March April
HOME 4-2-0 3-2-1 3-3-1 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0
AWAY 1-0-0 2-5-2 3-1-3 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0
TOTAL 5-2-0 5-7-3 6-4-4 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0
POINTS LEADER BY MONTH
October November December January February March April
Player Kadri Lindholm Lindholm – – – –
Points 4-5 – 9 4-9 – 13 5-11 – 16 – – – –
RECORD BY DAY
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1-0-0 3-0-2 4-3-0 1-0-2 1-5-1 1-3-0 4-2-2
RECORD BY DAYS BETWEEN GAMES/ON…
0 Days: 1-2-1
1 Day: 11-8-5
2 Days: 3-2-0
3 Days: 0-2-0
4+ Days: 0-0-0
First of B2B: 0-3-2
Second of B2B: 1-2-1
CALGARY FLAMES ALTERNATE JERSEY SCHEDULE:
November 29 vs FLA (6-2 W) December 1 vs. MTL (1-2 L) December 16 vs. STL (2-5 L) January 18 vs. COL
January 21 vs. TBL January 23 vs. CBJ January 26 vs. CHI February 28 vs. BOS
March 2 vs. TOR March 4 vs MIN March 23 vs. VGK March 25 vs. SJS
CALGARY FLAMES REVERSE RETRO SCHEDULE:
December 3 vs. WSH December 5 vs. ARI December 7 vs. MIN December 14 vs. VAN
(5-2 W) (3-2 W) (5-3 W) (3-4 SOL)
SEATTLE KRAKEN NOTES:
LAST GAME
Seattle 5 at Vancouver 6 (SO)
Goals: Sprong (2), McCann, Bjorkstrand, Wennberg
Goalie: Jones (32/37)
PP: 0/1 PK: 2/3 Shots: Seattle 36 – Vancouver 37
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 87)
Chris Driedger (ACL; IR) – 32 games – month-to-month
Joonas Donskoi (upper body; IR) – 32 games – day-to-day
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
Friday, Dec. 30: Edmonton at Seattle, 7 p.m. PT
Sunday, Jan. 1: NY Islanders at Seattle, 5 p.m. PT
Tuesday, Jan. 3: Seattle at Edmonton, 6 p.m. PT
Thursday, Jan. 5: Seattle at Toronto, 4 p.m. PT
Saturday, Jan. 7: Seattle at Ottawa, 4 p.m. PT
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Tonight is Seattle’s second of three meetings with Calgary this season and the first one at Climate Pledge Arena this year. A win tonight would give the Kraken consecutive wins against the Flames for the first time in franchise history. The team previously defeated the Flames 5-4 on Nov. 1 in Calgary.
• The Kraken have 7-2-2 record against Pacific Division opponents this season, which is good for 16 points and a 0.727 points percentage. Last season, the team only won six total games against their division rivals, defeating the San Jose Sharks three times and beating the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings once each.
• Yanni Gourde has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his last nine games against the Flames.
• Matty Beniers (one goal, one assist) has a point in each of the two career games he has played against Calgary.
• Will Borgen has already set a career high with 40 blocked shots this season and is just five hits shy of tying his career best of 89 that he set last year.
• The Kraken have had 16 different players score at least three goals this season. Entering play Tuesday, no team had had more players on its roster score three or more goals.
• Additionally, the Kraken were one of six teams (Arizona, Calgary, Dallas, Florida, NY Islanders) this season to have four different defensemen score at least three goals entering play Tuesday. Jamie Oleksiak (four), Vince Dunn (four), Adam Larsson (three) and Justin Schultz (three) have all scored at least three times for the Kraken this year.
• Martin Jones’ 14 wins were tied for the seventh-most in the NHL this season entering play Tuesday.
• According to Natural Stat Trick, the Kraken ranked sixth in the NHL with a 52.4 percent Corsi rating entering play Tuesday. The Kraken are outshooting their opponents 780-674 at five-on-five this season. Their 53.7 percent shot share was good for seventh in the NHL entering play Tuesday according to Natural Stat Trick.
GOING STREAKING
• A goal or an assist tonight for either Will Borgen or Carson Soucy would give them points in three consecutive games for the first time in their careers.
• Daniel Sprong has three goals in his last two games played. If he were to score again tonight, Sprong would match his career-high, three-game goals streak that he previously reached on three other occasions.
• Adam Larsson has notched an assist in each of the Kraken’s last three games dating back to Dec. 18 vs. the Jets. If he were to record an assist again tonight, it would extend his assist streak to four games, matching his career high that he set from Nov. 19 to 25, 2011.
• An assist tonight would give Brandon Tanev assists in three consecutive games, matching his career high that he has reached on two previous occasions. Tanev has four points (one goal, three assists) in his last four games played.
TANEV VS. TANEV
• If both players dress, it will mark the 12th time in their NHL careers that brothers Brandon and Chris Tanev will face off against each other in an NHL game.
• Brandon’s teams have posted a 9-2-0 record when facing Chris. He’s played him once has a member of the Kraken, twice with the Penguins and eight times with the Jets. o Brandon has won the duo’s only meeting since he joined the Kraken – Nov. 1, 2022 in Calgary, a 5-4 Seattle win.
• Chris has totaled six points (one goal, five assists) in the 11 games he has played against Brandon in the NHL. Brandon in turn has tallied on assist when facing Chris. Brandon holds the advantage with 34 hits compared to Chris’ six and Chris has more blocked shots with 25 to Brandon’s six.
• Tonight’s game will mark the 16th time this season where brothers on opposite teams have played one another. It is also the second time this season that a Kraken player has faced his brother, with Cale and Haydn Fleury doing so when Seattle took on Tampa Bay on Dec. 13, 2022.
*All stats courtesy of NHL Stats
HE WENT TO JARED
• Entering play Tuesday, Jared McCann led the league with 2.37 goals-per-60 at five-on-five among players that have played in at least three games this season.
• McCann has scored in each of the Kraken’s last three games dating back to Dec. 18 vs. Winnipeg and also enters tonight’s game riding a career-best, four-game home goal streak. His four-game, home goal streak is the longest such streak in franchise history. McCann has eight points (six goals, two assists) in his last eight games played at Climate Pledge Arena.
• A goal tonight would extend McCann’s scoring streak to four games, matching his career high that he previously achieved earlier this season (Oct. 21 to 27). It would also make him the 10th player this season to score in at least five consecutive home games according to NHL Stats.
• McCann is pacing to finish the year with 44 goals and 60 points, both of which would set career highs. He scored a career-high 27 goals last season with the Kraken.
HOME COOKING
• The Kraken enter tonight’s contest looking to win their third consecutive game at home. A victory would give the team their second home winning streak of at least three games this season. The team previously won four straight games at Climate Pledge Arena from Nov. 17 to Dec. 1, 2022.
• Despite only playing in 17 home games this season, the Kraken are just seven wins shy of matching their total of 16 home wins from last season.
• Andre Burakovsky is the team’s leading scorer when playing at Climate Pledge Arena this season. He has totaled 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in 17 home games.
• Ryan Donato has scored in each of the Kraken’s last two home games: Dec. 18 vs. Winnipeg and Dec. 20 vs. St. Louis. If he were to score tonight it would give him goals in three consecutive home games for the first time in his career.
• Adam Larsson has recorded an assist in the Kraken’s last two home games. A goal or an assist tonight would give him points in three straight home game for the first time since he also had points in three straight home games from Feb. 20 to 23, 2015 while playing for the New Jersey Devils. He totaled five points (all assists) during that three-game stretch.
• Vince Dunn has six points (one goal, five assists) in his last six home games.
A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY
• The Kraken roster houses the top two scorers among NHL players that are averaging fewer than 11 minutes of ice time per-game entering play Tuesday: Daniel Sprong, who has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 10:37 of average ice time and Morgan Geekie, who has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 10:09 of average ice time.
• Sprong’s 10 goals are the most among players who have averaged less than 11 minutes of ice time this season. Entering play Tuesday, no other player who fit those criteria has more than six goals this year. Geekie is tied for sixth with four goals this season.
• Sprong was leading the NHL entering play Tuesday with 0.76 points per game among players that are averaging less than 11 minutes of ice time and have played in at least two games this season.
• The Kraken are the only team this season to have two players that are averaging less than 11 minutes of ice time to have at least four goals and 10 points this season.
• Additionally, Geekie (3.76) led the NHL entering play Tuesday is points-per-60 at five-on-five this season among players that have played in at least six games. Sprong, who has 3.42 points-per-60 this year, ranked fourth.
• According to Natural Stat Trick, Geekie (plus-13) and Sprong (plus-12) rank second and third, respectively, on Seattle’s roster in five-on-five on ice goal differential this season. They trail only Vince Dunn (plus-15) for the team lead. Geekie (81.0 percent) and Sprong (77.3 percent) also rank second and third, respectively, on the team in goals-for percentage this season according to Natural Stat Trick. Shane Wright (83.3) leads the team this year.
• Both Geekie and Sprong are on pace to finish the year with new career highs in goals, assists and points. Sprong, who is tied
for third on the Kraken roster with 10 goals this season, enters tonight’s game just four goals tying his career high of 14 that he
set in 2018-19 and matched last season.
CHEERS TO BENIERS
• Matty Beniers leads all NHL rookies this season in goals (11) and points (25), and his 14 assists were tied for second entering
play Tuesday. Beniers is ranked in the top five on Seattle’s roster in goals (second), assists (tied fourth) and points (tied second) this
season.
• He enters tonight’s game having totaled 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in his last 15 games played, dating back to Nov. 19 vs. Los Angeles. His 16 points during that span leads all rookies and all Kraken skaters.
• Beniers scored the game-winning goal in the Kraken’s game on Dec. 1, a 3-2 overtime win against the Washington Capitals. It was the first overtime goal of his career and his second game-winning goal of the season (Last: Nov. 1 at Calgary). Beniers’ overtime goal came seven seconds into overtime, the fastest overtime goal in franchise history. According to NHL Stats, it was also the fastest goal by a rookie from the start of a regular-season overtime in NHL history. Walter Jackson (0:08 on March 7, 1933) held the previous record. Entering play Tuesday, Beniers was one of three rookies (Nils Lundkvist, Fabian Zetterlund) to score an overtime goal this season and is also one of three rookies (Pontus Holmberg, Shane Pinto) to score two game-winning goals this year.
• Entering play Tuesday, Beniers was the only rookie this season to have two three-point games, doing so on Nov. 23 vs. San Jose and on Nov. 27 at Anaheim. Beniers’ six multi-point games led all rookies and were tied with Andre Burakovsky for the team lead entering play Tuesday.
• Beniers is also averaging 17:13 of ice time per game this season, which is the second-most among rookie forwards (Noah Cates; 17:59) and ranks fourth among Kraken forwards.
• The 20-year-old is currently on pace to finish the season with 28 goals, 36 assists and 64 points. Twenty-eight goals would be the most by a rookie since Patrik Laine and Auston Matthews had 36 and 40 goals, respectively, during their rookie season in 2016-17.
BENNY AND THE VETS
• Since Nov. 13 vs. Winnipeg, forwards Matty Beniers, Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann have played on a line together, totaling 175:07 of ice time at five-on-five together during that span.
• According to Natural Stat Trick, since Nov. 13 when that line is on the ice during five-on-five play, the Kraken are outscoring their opponents 17-4, outshooting them 89-76 and have 88 scoring chances to their opponents’ 64.
• One of Beniers, Eberle or McCann has scored in 16 of the last 17 games the Kraken have played dating back to Nov. 13.
SETTING THE PACE
• With 32 games played this year, the Kraken are roughly 39 percent of the way through their second season. Heading into tonight’s matchup with the Flames, nine of the 20 veteran skaters on the Kraken’s active roster are on pace to surpass their career highs in scoring.
• Will Borgen, Andre Burakovsky, Morgan Geekie and Daniel Sprong are all on pace to set new career highs in goals, assists and points. Borgen has already tied his career high with two goals this season and has set career highs in both assists (eight) and points (10).
• Ryan Donato (20), Jared McCann (44) and Jamie Oleksiak (12) are on pace to finish the 2022-23 season with a new career high in goals. If the pace holds, it would mark the first time in his career that McCann would surpassed the 40-goal threshold. Adam Larsson (eight) is on pace to tie his career highs in goals.
• Oliver Bjorkstrand (31), Vince Dunn (36), Jordan Eberle (44), Adam Larsson (23), Carson Soucy (15) and Brandon Tanev (28) are all pacing to finish the year with new career highs in assists. Yanni Gourde (39) is on pace to tie his career high in assists.
• Vince Dunn (46), Adam Larsson (31), Jared McCann (60), Jamie Oleksiak (21) and Brandon Tanev (41) are all playing at a pace to surpass their career highs in points.
