5 Things - Flames @ Avalanche

1. Right Back At It

Saturday’s Battle of Alberta had plenty of drama.

Goals, big saves and even a little bit of bite.

In the end however, the Flames had to settle for a point falling 3-2 in overtime to start a three-game road swing.

Yegor Sharangovich and Brayden Pachal found the back of the net, with Pachal’s goal giving the Flames a 2-1 lead with just over seven minutes into the third.

With Viktor Arvidsson tallying earlier on for Edmonton, the Oilers pushed for the equalizer and found it thanks to Leon Draisaitl firing a wrister blocker side on Dustin Wolf three minutes left in regulation to force extra time.

The clubs traded chances during the three-on-three session with Draisaitl snapping his second of the night and league leading 51st tally 2:25 into overtime to give the Oilers two points.

Wolf, who started his third straight game, made 26 saves in the loss while at the other end Calvin Pickard also ended with 26 saves.

“There were parts of it I liked and there were other parts I thought we sat back and just didn’t have that assertiveness or that killer instinct tonight that I thought we needed,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “So, it is a tougher one, but as we’ve said over the last little while, you have to quickly turn the page and move on and get ready for our next one.”

And that's exactly what they'll do.

With a matchup against one of the top teams in the league and one that has been on a heater: the Colorado Avalanche.

From one high power offence opponent to another, the Flames will look for their first win of the season series against the Avs after dropping a pair of 4-2 results on Scotiabank Saddledome ice.

And more importantly, get back on track with two major points on the line. After tonight, it's down to single digit games.

"We’ve got to find a way to get two points our next game in Colorado, that’s been our whole mindset here down the stretch every game," Mikael Backlund said. "We’ve got to turn the page quick. That’s what the boys did on their (last) road trip, too, after losing three in a row, found a way to win four in a row. So that’s what we’ve got to do again."

The Flames will jump back into action tomorrow night to take on Utah to wrap up the trip before closing out the week with two clashes at the 'Dome, Thursday against Anaheim and Saturday versus Vegas.

2. Know Your Enemy

When two of the hottest team in the NHL clash, something has to give.

Saturday afternoon saw the Blues and Avalanche battle it out which saw St. Louis skate away with a 2-1 victory at Ball Arena. The loss was the first home setback in 12 games for the Avs, who headed into the contest on a four-game win streak and 12 wins in their last 14.

Nathan MacKinnon scored the lone marker for Colorado, his 109th point of the campaign, tied for first in the NHL with Nikita Kucherov. The goal also marked his seventh career 30-goal season and fourth in a row.

The Blues received goals from Zach Bolduc and Pavel Buchnevich, with Buchnevich's goal breaking the deadlock at 8:54 of the third.

“We're a team that generates momentum with how we play, and when we're slow, we're just giving it to other teams,” Devon Toews told NHL.com after the game. “Tonight, when we were slow and when we were turning pucks over, we just gave them free momentum. Then you have to go and expend energy playing defense, and we want to play offense. And we have opportunities there, in the third, to score a couple and just couldn't get the job done on that side.”

With 93 points on the year the Avs sit third in the Central, seven back of Dallas for second while holding a six point lead over the Wild and Blues.

The usual suspects will be front and centre in MacKinnon and Calgary product Cale Makar, but the overall depth can’t be ignored.

Since arriving in Denver in January, Martin Necas has settled right in with 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in as many games and Brock Nelson having potted eight points in 11 games after being acquired from the Islanders earlier in the month.

3. Wild Card Update

Down to the last 10.

With 80 points in 72 games (34-26-12) the Flames sit seven points back of the Blues and Wild headed into tonight, with three games in hand over St. Louis and two over Minnesota.

The Canucks are ninth in the West with 81 points, failing to gain ground after a 3-1 loss to the Jets Sunday afternoon.

Minnesota hit the ice tonight on the road in New Jersey, with St. Louis back in action tomorrow night against the Red Wings and Vancouver idle until Wednesday night versus Seattle.

4. Fast Facts

Rocky Mountain Ties

Nazem Kadri skated in 178 games with the Avalanche over three seasons, scoring 155 points (58G, 97A). In the 2022 playoffs, Kadri scored seven goals and eight assists for 15 points en route to winning the Stanley Cup. Fellow Flames forward Dryden Hunt spent 25 games in Colorado during the 2022-23 season, notching a goal.

Power Of Pickle

Brayden Pachal scored his third goal of the season and recorded an assist on Saturday to earn his second multi-point game of his career. The rearguard has played a career-high 66 games this season and was the 405th player to score a goal in the Battle of Alberta.

5. Players To Watch

Flames – Yegor Sharangovich

Sharky was back with a bang!

Skating on a line alongside Nazem Kadri and Martin Pospisil, Sharangovich recorded his 13th goal of the season Saturday in Edmonton after missing the previous clash against Dallas.

With 97 career goals, he's looking to join Mikhail Grabovski (125) and Andrei Kostitsyn (103) as the third skater of Belarussian descent in NHL history to reach the 100-goal plateau.

Avalanche – Nathan MacKinnon

Is there anyone else on a better run?

MacKinnon extended his home point streak to 24 games thanks to his goal against the Blues, with 41 points (16 goals, 25 assists) during that span marking the longest in the NHL this season.

The 29-year-old recorded his 1000th NHL point on Mar. 10 against Chicago, becoming the 100th player in NHL history and the first player from his draft class to reach the milestone.