5 Things - Flames @ Avalanche

1. Rocky Mountain Way

The trip so nice, it stops in Denver twice!

The Flames jetted to the Mile High City Sunday afternoon to begin this season-long, six-game road trip that will take Calgary all over the Western Conference over the next 14 days. 

Air Flames will call at Denver, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Dallas, Denver (again) and Seattle as the team winds down its regular-season road schedule, beginning with an Amazon Prime affair against the Avalanche Monday night.

Calgary comes to Colorado with plenty of momentum, too. That six-game homestand concluded with a 7-3 exclamation mark Saturday against the Canucks and overall, the Flames netted 11 of a 12 possible points over their last week and a half on home ice.

"This stretch of six games, we played fairly consistent, the brand that you have to play," Head Coach Ryan Huska said Saturday evening. "Yes, we gave up some chances, both goaltenders were good while we were here.

"Powerplay scored us a few goals, some key ones at times. And I thought we had contributions from all four lines at various times, and that’s an important thing for our team."

Now, the key for Calgary is to replicate that success on the road, which Huska admitted Saturday has been a challenge for his group. And against the League leaders, that 'Next Game Up' mentality Huska and his leadership group have instilled will come in handy.

"The focus, like it has been basically since the Trade Deadline, is what’s in front of us. So the next one’s Colorado," Huska explained. "If we can take some of what we did at home, here, onto the road, which hasn’t been easy for us this year, you give yourself a chance to win hockey games, and that’s what it’s all about.

"I’d like to see our team play the same way (as at home). As a group, we’re going to get challenged in Colorado, so it’s going to be exciting to see how we respond."

2. Know Your Enemy

The Avalanche are the NHL's top dogs, entering play Monday with a League-leading 48-14-10 record. And there's a feeling in Colorado that the Avalanche are just getting started, with lofty aspirations ahead this spring.

Colorado is coming off a home-and-home split against Winnipeg, falling 4-2 to the Jets on home ice Saturday to kick off a three-game homestand against all Canadian clubs. Brock Nelson and Parker Kelly had the Avalanche markers Saturday, but two goals from Winnipeg in the third period helped the visitors leave town with two valuable points in their Wild Card chase.

It was Colorado's seventh regulation loss at home this season, and post-game, Calgarian Cale Makar spoke to the desire for his team to continue making Ball Arena a house of horrors for visiting teams down the stretch.

“Obviously, this has got to be a place where teams (have) got to come in and feel our presence, and I felt like we didn't (do that),” Makar told reporters Saturday. “We started OK today. Obviously, gave them a quick one, but yeah, I think there's different areas we can tighten up.

"We were working as hard as we can. Felt like our work ethic today was great, but just offensively just felt like we were a little disorganized sometimes and didn't really get much at the net."

Nathan MacKinnon is the offensive leader in Denver, his 48 goals lead the League, while his 117 points are third-most among NHL skaters.

Scott Wedgewood's 2.19 goals-against average and .916 save percentage are both the best in the circuit, too.

The Avs lead the League with 265 goals for - seven more than their next nearest Western Conference rival - and Colorado averages a League-best 33.6 shots on goal per game as well.

3. Fast Facts

2025-26 Season Series

Tonight's game is the first meeting of the season between Calgary and Colorado, and the first of three matchups against the Avalanche over the Flames' final nine games of the regular season.

Calgary will return to Ball Arena Apr. 9 before welcoming Colorado to the Scotiabank Saddledome Apr. 14.

Tonight marks the first contest between the two sides in almost a full calendar year. The Flames won here in Denver by a 3-2 shootout final Mar. 31, 2025. Ryan Lomberg and Adam Klapka had the Calgary markers that evening, before Yegor Sharangovich put home the decider in the skill session.

Did You Know?

With his two points Saturday against Vancouver, defenceman Olli Määttä now has ten points (2G, 8A) in 12 games since being acquired by the Flames from the Utah Mammoth. He's one of only four defencemen in Calgary franchise history to record double-digits in points in their first dozen games with the club, joining Phil Housley (14), Gary Suter (11) and Zarley Zalapski (10).

Määttä and Morgan Frost scored goals 11 seconds apart in Saturday's 7-3 win over the Canucks, marking the two quickest goals scored by the Flames this season.

4. They Said It

Check this space soon for the buzz from Monday's morning skate in Denver!

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Matt Coronato

Coronato notched the second three-point game of his NHL career with a goal and two assists Saturday against Vancouver, matching a career best originally set Jan. 30, 2025 against the Anaheim Ducks. 

But it wasn't just his goal that was sublime. Coronato delivered a pair of saucy passes on the Flames' fifth and sixth goals against the Canucks.

He dished a sweet pass to Morgan Frost, allowing the centre to cut down the right wing and backhand home his team-leading 18th goal of the season, then later on a powerplay, he dropped a picture-perfect dish onto the tape of an onrushing Zayne Parekh, who quickly snapped home his second career powerplay goal to put Calgary up by four goals.

Avalanche - Nazem Kadri

Kadri faces his former Calgary mates for the first time this evening after a Deadline Day deal that saw him return to Colorado.

The veteran centre won a Stanley Cup here with the Avalanche in 2022, and in 11 games with the Avs this time around, Kadri has two goals and seven points, and comes into tonight's contest riding a three-game point streak.

He led the Flames in scoring in each of his three full seasons in Calgary.