5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. PREDATORS

FLAMES (4-2-0) vs. PREDATORS (5-1-0)

US

Winners of two straight, the Flames enter this evening's contest with a 4-2-0 record for eight points, and are second in the Pacific Division, three back of the Anaheim Ducks. … The Flames are coming off a 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, and are now a perfect 2-0 on Scotiabank Saddledome ice. Michael Frolik scored his first two goals of the season to pace the Flames offensively in the victory, while three others - including his 3M linemates Mikael Backlundand Matthew Tkachuk- had multi-point efforts. Mike Smithmade 24 saves, improving his record to 3-2-0. … Dillon Dube (lower body) missed Wednesday's game, but head coach Bill Peters did say the rookie was not far off after getting back-to-back "maintenance days" earlier this week. … Following tonight's game, the Flames hit the road for two straight, beginning Sunday in midtown Manhattan when they face Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers.

THEM

The Predators have lost only once this year - their lone blemish in a 5-1 record came at the hands of… you guessed it. Ever since the Flames handed the Preds a 3-0 loss last week in their home opener, the reigning Presidents' Trophy winners have rattled off three straight wins over the Winnipeg Jets, New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild. As a result, the Preds are right back where they finished the 2017-18 campaign - atop the Central Division standings. Filip Forsberg leads the Predators in both goals and points with six, while Pekka Rinne has quickly returned to form after capturing his first Vezina Trophy with 42 wins and a .927 save percentage last year. The 35-year-old has a 3-1-0 record and a .947 save percentage in four starts. Following tonight's game, the Predators will travel up the QE2 to face the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday before returning home to host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

US VS. THEM

This is the second of three meetings, and the first of two to be played between these two games at the Scotiabank Saddledome this year. The season series will wrap up on Dec. 8 in Calgary. … The Flames won two of three against the Predators last year, with Mikael Backlund, Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk leading the Flames in offensive production with two points each.

THIS, THAT & THE OTHER

THIS: The Flames are off to their hottest start at home since the 2009-10 season. The Flames have scored 12 goals at the
'Dome in two games and are currently in the Top 10 for goals for in the NHL with 23. The last time the Flames started a season 3-
0-0-0 at home was in 1991-92. THAT:Michael Frolik, who's coming off a two-goal effort in Wednesday's victory, had the first multi-goal game of his career on Feb. 21, 2017 against Nashville. THE OTHER: With his game-winning goal on Wednesday, rookie defenceman Juuso Valimaki** became the youngest Finnish player to score a goal in Flames franchise history, surpassing Markus Granlund (20 years, 323 days) for that honour.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - Matthew Tkachuk
With nine points (2G, 7A) in his first five games, Tkachuk has quietly got off to the best start of his NHL career. In addition to joining fellow 3M linemate Mikael Backlund as Flames' top two in shot share, the 20-year-old is piling up the looks offensively, and is in firmly in the Top 10 among all NHL forwards, manufacturing more than 64% (62-34) of the scoring chances when he's on the ice at even strength. Tkachuk, who finished with 24 goals last year, is on a similar pace in the goal-scoring department, but as he begins to put more emphasis on shooting, his individual production should rise alongside his overall point total. Considering how strong a start he's gotten off to, the Flames are quickly establishing one heckuva secondary scoring unit to complement the work of Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholmand Sean Monahan up front.
Predators - Filip Forsberg
For the first time in four seasons, Forsberg did not play in all 82 regular-season games last year. But that didn't stop him from having an impact in the 67 he did appear in. The 24-year-old had a career year in points per game, scoring 26 times and adding 38 helpers, tying his previous career high of 64 points in 15 fewer games. The 11th pick in the 2012 Draft is off to another hot start, leading the Preds with six points (4G, 2A) and doing it with the usual flair Nashville fans have become accustomed to. Forsberg, the quintessential human highlight reel, has already taken over the airwaves with a couple of showstoppers early on, and brings a three-game point streak into this evening's clash at the 'Dome.