CALGARY FLAMES NOTES:
TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS
This is the second of three meetings this season between the Flames and Avalanche. The Flames fell 3-1 in their first matchup on November 25th . This is a Pacific Division versus Central Division matchup; the Flames have a record of 4-5-0 against Central Division teams and a record of 8-7-0 against Western Conference opponents.
LAST MEETING:
The Calgary Flames finished up a four-game road trip in Colorado in the clubs first meeting back on November 25th. It would be the Avalanche who opened the scoring prior to the midway point of the first off the stick of Jonathan Drouin and Colorado led 1-0 through 20. In the second, Ryan Johansen extended Colorado’s advantage to two goals, before Mikael Backlund made it goals in back-to-back games to give Calgary life and make it 2-1. Nathan MacKinnon would score later in the frame to restore the Avalanche’s two-goal lead and make it 3-1 through 40. Calgary would outshoot Colorado 15-6 in the third period but couldn’t find an answer and fell 3-1 in game one of their season-series.
BACK-TO-BACKS:
The Flames gear up to enter their fourth back-to-back set of the 2023-24 season tonight in Colorado. Following tonight, Calgary heads to Vegas for their second of four meetings against the Golden Knights. The Flames previous three back-to-back scenarios came on Nov. 24 at DAL, Nov. 25 at COL Oct. 19 at BUF, Oct. 20 at CBJ and Nov. 10 at TOR, Nov. 11 at OTT. Following this, Calgary will have four more back-to-back sets this season with their next coming on Jan. 6-7 in Philadelphia and Chicago.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN:
Following a six-game homestand, the Flames will play their next three games away from the ‘Dome. Calgary will face Colorado and Vegas in a back-to-back scenario tonight and tomorrow, before heading to Minnesota to close out a brief three-game road swing on Thursday.
FLAMES RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Dec. 9 – recalled Matt Coronato (F) from Calgary (AHL), placed Jacob Markstrom (G) on IR
FLAMES RECENT INJURIES (Total man games lost – 97)
Jakob Pelletier – upper body injury (28 games, 10/11/23 – pres.)
Kevin Rooney – upper body injury (28 games, 10/11/23 – pres.)
Oliver Kylington – (28 games, 10/11/23 – pres.)
Adam Ruzicka – upper body injury (4 games, 10/26/23 – 11/7/23)
Jacob Markstrom – upper-body injury (2 games, 11/10/23 – 11/ 14/ 23)
Connor Zary – lower body injury (1 game, 11/22/23)
Jacob Markstrom – Illness (1 game, 11/27/23)
Jacob Markstrom – fractured finger (5 games, 12/2/23 – pres.)
COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
The Colorado Avalanche continues their five-game homestand tonight against the Calgary Flames at Ball Arena…The Avs are 1-2-0 so far on this home stay, beating Anaheim 3-2 before falling to Winnipeg 4-2 and Philadelphia 5-2…This is one of two five-game homestands on the 2023-24 schedule (also March 22-30), which marks the club’s longest homestands of the season…December is Colorado’s busiest month of the campaign, as the team will play 15 contests (nine home, six away)
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – CALGARY FLAMES
The Avalanche and Flames meet for the second time this season…Colorado won the first matchup 3-1 on Nov. 25 here at Ball Arena…These two teams will face off one more time, March 12 in Calgary…The Avs went 2-1-0 against the Flames last season, 1-0-0 at home…The Avs have won five of the last six meetings in this series and are 7-1-2 in their last 10 contests against Calgary…Colorado has points in each of its last eight home games versus the Flames, going 5-0-3 (7-0-3 including playoffs)
RECORD vs. FLAMES
THIS SEASON 2022-23 ALL-TIME SINCE ’95-96
O: 1-0-0 O: 2-1-0 O: 73-76-25 O: 62-54-13
H: 1-0-0 H: 1-0-0 H: 40-33-15 H: 33-24-9
A: — A: 1-1-0 A: 33-43-10 A: 29-30-4
CURRENT INJURIES (full list at end of notes)
Pavel Francouz – lower body (Oct. 11 – present)
Jean-Luc Foudy – lower body (Oct. 11 – present)
Gabriel Landeskog – knee (Oct. 11 – present)
Artturi Lehkonen – neck (Nov. 11 – present)
Chris Wagner – lower body (Oct. 11 – present)
Man-Games Lost: 142
TONIGHT’S GAME NOTES
PACIFIC HEIGHTS The Avalanche are 8-3-1 against Pacific Division teams this season, 4-1-0 at home.
EXTRA CREDIT
The Avalanche are 1-2 in games decided past regulation this year…Colorado finished 15-7 last season, 9-4 in overtime and 6-3 in shootouts…The 15 wins beyond 60 minutes led all NHL teams while Colorado’s .682 points percentage ranked third…Colorado is 224-192-204 alltime in overtime contests and 84-48 (.636) in shootouts, the highest winning percentage of any team since the tiebreaker started in 2005-06…The Avs have the best all-time shooting percentage at 37.4% (165/441) and the second-best save percentage at .723 (326/451).
SHORT AND TO THE POINT
The Avs have scored five shorthanded goals, tied for fifth in the NHL…Individually, Logan O’Connor is tied for first in the NHL with three shorthanded tallies, while Cale Makar shares the league lead with three shorthanded assists.
