5 THINGS - FLAMES @ COYOTES
Flames visit Mullet Arena for first time, kick off three-game road swing
Natasha Staniszewski gets you set for tonight's tilt
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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Natasha Staniszewski
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
'An Important Piece' - Tanev to play 700th game
Projected Lineup
Say What: 'Pretty Energetic And Fun'
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
2022-23 Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Elias Lindholm & Tyler Toffoli (49)
Goals - Toffoli (23)
Coyotes:
Points - Clayton Keller (53)
Goals - Keller (23)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 19% (25th) / PK - 81.6% (9th)
Coyotes:
PP - 19.3% (24th) / PK - 76.2% (23rd)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 57.46% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 51.88% (12th)
Coyotes:
Shot Attempts: 43.61% (30th)
High-Danger Chances: 42.62% (30th)
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- LAST TIME OUT
No sugar coating it. This trip is massive.
The Flames embark on a three-game road swing starting tonight in Arizona, following a 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Monday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Facing a 3-1 deficit headed into the final 20 minutes, the Flames managed to battle back to tie things up with just under 10 minutes left but it didn't last long, as Wade Allison scored 1:39 later and the Flyers held on the rest of the way.
Mikael Backlund, Tyler Toffoli and Andrew Mangiapane supplied the goals while Jacob Markstrom stopped 18 shots.
It was a sour note to end a three-game homestand that saw them go 1-2.
"It's tough. We had some looks in the first period but I think overall we didn't do a good enough of a job checking against their top guys," Noah Hanifin said. "That starts with guys like me. Not letting some of their top players get looks especially at this time of year. We can't let stuff like that happen.
"With the position we're in, we're really going to have to buckle down here the last month and a half and string together some wins."
With 25 games left on the sked, every game is big. Despite being well out of the playoff race, the Coyotes are red hot at the moment while the Golden Knights and Avalanche continue their strong play, respectively.
With 63 points, the Flames sit four points back of the Wild for the final wildcard spot in the West, and got no help on the out of town scoreboard last night.
This late in the season, every point is crucial and these upcoming games are sure to have a playoff-like feel.
"We're going to believe all the way through," Backlund said. "We believe in each other. We're going to keep grinding and keep giving it our best, we are not going to give up.
"We're going to keep pushing each other to get to where we want to be."
### 2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY
One of the hottest teams in the NHL right now: The Arizona Coyotes.
The 'Yotes enter the tilt winners of three of their last four, collected 11 points out of a possible 14 in the month of February, and have points in nine straight.
Sunday night saw them knock off the Blue Jackets 3-2 in overtime with Travis Boyd and Nick Schmaltz scoring in regulation and Barrett Hayton notching the winner just two minutes into the extra session.
Hayton converted after a breakdown by the Blue Jackets in their own zone created a two-on-one near the goal, as he collected a pass from Matias Maccelli and beat Elvis Merzlikins glove side for the win.
With the helper, Maccelli now leads all rookies in assists with 25, and is third in overall rookie scoring with 28.
The Coyotes current point streak is the longest since a 12-game unbeaten run back on Feb. 4-28, 2012 when they went 11-0-1.
"I think there's been a lot of different things," Hayton told NHL.com on what has led to the success. "We cleaned up some things with a couple of practice days, our powerplay has been good lately, and we're just dialed in.
"We've done a really good job in here (Mullet Arena). We have an opportunity to play a lot of home games here down the stretch and we want to keep it rolling."
With four straight wins on home ice, Arizona will play 18 of their last 25 games at Mullet Arena.
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- FAST FACTS
LOOK BACKS AT IT: Mikael Backlund found the back of the net for the second-straight game Monday against Philadelphia. Backlund has recorded points in three-straight games and has a team-high 14 points over the Flames last 11 games (3G, 11A). With the two-point effort on Monday, Backlund is now tied for the fifth-most regular season and playoff goals combined by a centre in Flames franchise history with 190, matching Joel Otto's total. Only Joe Nieuwendyk (346), Kent Nilsson (233), Sean Monahan (222) and Guy Chouinard (202) have more.
FIRST FOR EVERYTHING: Andrew Mangiapane recorded his first NHL point against the Coyotes, an assist on a Mark Giordano goal back on January 14th, 2019 … On Jan. 28, 2010, Mikael Backlund scored his first NHL goal against the Coyotes … Tonight is the Flames' first trip to Mullett Arena.
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- PLAYERS TO WATCH
Flames - Andrew Mangiapane
Bread is rising!
Mangiapane has three points in his past two games and goals in back-to-back tilts. Alongside linemates Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman, the trio continue to be strong for the Flames, dominating in possession numbers and chances created.
Coyotes - Clayton Keller
The former 'Yotes first-rounder has three points in three skates and eight points (4G, 4A) in his last five.
On top of pacing the Coyotes attack, Keller also leads his club with three game-winning goals and 14 power play points.
### 5. TANEV 700
Chris Tanev is slated to skate in his 700th NHL game tonight against Arizona. He skated in his first NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 18th, 2011 as a member of the Vancouver Canucks, a club he would go on to skate in 514 games for over 10 seasons. Tanev has skated in 185 games with the Flames scoring 9 goals and 42 assists for 51 points. Tanev currently has the fourth most games played among active undrafted players in the NHL, only Mark Giordano (1081), Brenden Dillon (790), and Mats Zuccarello (742) have more.
