5 Things - Flames vs. Ducks

1. All Business

It’s officially that time now.

With math and ‘magic numbers’ now a daily part of the NHL’s playoff lexicon, the clock is ticking fast for the Flames to make a charge up the standings to secure their spot in the spring dance.

Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club digs especially deep thanks to an unforgiving out-of-town scoreboard, so Calgary’s attention now turns to the friendly confines of home ice, where wins – and nothing but – are a must as they begin a crucial, two-game set.

The Flames enter Thursday’s slate seven points back of the Wild and Blues, with two games in hand, but without any tiebreakers.

With eight games left, the Flames most certainly have their work cut out for them.

But if we’ve learned anything from this plucky, lunch-bucket bunch this year, they have a penchant for proving people wrong.

“Now, it’s a challenge for us to make sure that we go home and we play our best hockey of the year,” said Head Coach Ryan Huska, reflecting on a 1-1-1 road trip. “So, we have to find a way to win our games at home, and that’s going to be a crucial thing for us moving forward.”

Rasmus Andersson, who tallied the Flames’ lone strike in the disappointing, Salt Lake setback, struggled to find the words when asked to summarize the past three nights.

And the path forward.

“I mean, we got three out of six points,” he sighed. “At this time, we probably needed one or two more points.

“So, not good enough.”

Five of the Flames’ final eight games will be played at the Scotiabank Saddledome, including a head-to-head matchup with one of the teams they’re chasing, the Minnesota Wild, on April 11.

2. Know Your Enemy

This is the first of a two-game road trip for the Ducks, who are coming off a 4-3 shootout win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday and have won three of their last four dating back to March 26.

Canadian World Junior star Mason McTavish played the hero on Tuesday, tying a career high with three assists, while Trevor Zegras and rookie winger Sam Colangelo had a goal and an assist each.

Lukas Dostal made 28 saves for the Ducks, who swept the season series (3-0) with their California rivals for the first time in franchise history.

“The goal we set as a team is to have a winning record this season,” Zegras told Dan Arritt of NHL.com. “Just kind of compared to where we were the last couple seasons, I think that's a pretty good goal and something we're all pretty excited about trying to achieve.”

The Ducks are now on the precipice of doing so, having pulled back to .500 at 33-33-8.

Anaheim was at or above the .500 mark for nine of the first 10 games of the season, but dropped below that threshold for a good chunk of the campaign before closing the gap again in March.

While the Ducks will miss the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season, players like Zegras, McTavish, leading scorer Troy Terry, sophomore star Leo Carlsson and others have given the franchise an enviable, young forward cast.

The same can be said of the backend, where sophomore blueliner Jackson LaCombe enters the night on a six-game point streak (3G, 5A) – and with his goal on Tuesday, tied the legendary Scott Niedermayer for the second-most goals in a season (14) in team history, behind Lubomir Visnovsky's 18 in 2010-11.

“Guys have taken some really big steps this year," McTavish said. “It's fun to watch, it's fun to be a part of and hopefully we keep it going.”

The Ducks will finish up this quick, Canadian road swing a Saturday matinee in Vancouver, before returning home for a pair – which includes a rematch with the Flames on April 9.

3. Fast Facts

Razzle Dazzle

With his goal on Tuesday against Utah, Rasmus Andersson now has 11 on the year, tying a career high. His 11 tallies are the third-most among Swedish-born blueliners this season, with only Victor Hedman (14) and Rasmus Dahlin (14) scoring more. Andersson’s previous 11-goal campaign came during the 2022-23 season. ... The goal also marked his 229th career point, passing Dion Phaneuf (228) for eighth on the franchise’s all-time points list among defencemen.

Harvard Alumni

Tonight’s matchup features two of the nine active Harvard alumni in the NHL with Anaheim’s Alex Killorn and Calgary’s Matt Coronato set to faceoff. Coronato spent the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns with the Crimson, totaling 38 goals and 34 assists for 72 points in 68 contests for Harvard. Killorn spent four years at Harvard from 2008 to 2012, amassing 109 total points in 130 NCAA games.

4. Welcome To The Show

Get ready, Flames fans.

One of the team’s most exciting young prospects has officially arrived.

Aydar Suniev – a third-round pick in the 2023 Draft – has signed a three-year entry level contract and will immediately report to the Flames, wearing No. 36.

The 20-year-old left-shot winger played 35 games for the University of Massachusetts Amherst this past season, finishing second on the team while posting career highs in goals (20), assists (18) and points (38). The Kazan, Russia native played a starring role in helping upset the second-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers with a pair of goals including the OT winner, after his club overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third period of last week’s Fargo Regional Semifinals.

“Talking to Aydar and his representation, Wade Arnott, it was coming together pretty quick,” Flames GM Craig Conroy told CalgaryFlames.com's Chris Wahl. “To be able to get it done, and get him headed here to Calgary - hopefully tonight - is really a big win for us.

“We’re excited, this is a young man that can score goals, and he’s got good size at 6-foot-2, 215 (pounds). Really excited to have him in the fold and eventually – hopefully – we’ll see him on the ice at some point.”

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5. Players to Watch

Flames - Joel Farabee

‘Beezer,’ as he’s known around the locker-room, is coming off one his strongest nights as a Flame in Tuesday’s loss to Utah. In 15:21 of ice time, he finished with three shots on four attempts, along two chances and one Grade-A.

While Farabee hasn’t seen much of the Ducks over his first six seasons in the National, scoring against them?

That, he’s familiar with.

Farabee has seven points (3G, 4A) in seven head-to-head meetings.

Ducks - Alex Killorn

On a team full of young bucks, the 35-year-old Killorn is having himself a fine year with 33 points (18G, 15A) in 74 games.

Impressively – and, potentially, dangerously if you’re the Flames – five of Killorn’s 18 tallies are game-winners, tying Carlsson for the team lead.