5 THINGS - FLAMES vs. WILD

Flames (17-9-2: 36 pts.) vs. Wild (15-10-2: 32 pts.)

US

The Flames are coming off arguably their most impressive victory of the year, digging out of a 4-1 hole against the Blue Jackets in Columbus by scoring five second-period goals en route to a 1980s-esque 9-6 win. Johnny and Mony led the goal-scoring parade with a pair each, both adding a couple of assists for good measure. TJ Brodie, Austin Czarnik, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin and Matthew Tkachuk also lit the lamp. David Rittich started in net, making 11 saves on 14 first-period shots but was replaced by Mike Smith to start the second, the latter turning aside 13 of the 16 shots he faced in relief … The victory was Calgary's third straight win. During that time, they have outscored the opposition 16-9 and now have a +18 goal differential on the season, tops in the Pacific and second only to Nashville and Colorado (+23) in the Western Conference … The Flames have been great at home so far this season posting a record of 8-3-2 and have picked up points in five straight contests. Tkachuk has 22 of his 32 points at home this season while Gaudreau has 19 of his 35 points on Saddledome ice. The Flames will play five more home games before the Christmas break.

THEM

The Wild have lost three of their last four, snapping a three-game losing skid with a 3-2 win over the Canucks in Vancouver on Tuesday. All three of their tallies came on the powerplay, including two in a 55-second span during the second period.Ryan Suter tied it at two with the Wild on a two-man powerplay and then Jason Zucker scored the eventual game-winner. "When you get a 5-on-3 opportunity, you want to make sure you are taking advantage of it and we did that," Zucker told NHL.com. "You want to make sure in any game you are winning the special teams battle. Our penalty-kill did a really nice job on all their powerplays (3-for-3) and we capitalized on all three of our powerplays." ... Minny is 4-6-0 in their last 10 games and is just one game above .500 on the road, sitting at 7-6 ... The Wild also continues a stretch of five consecutive games against a Canadian team.

US vs. THEM

This is the first of three meetings between the clubs. They face off again Dec. 15 in St. Paul and Mar. 2 at the Scotiabank Saddledome … Last season the Wild got the better of their three-game set, winning 4-2 in Calgary and 2-1 in a shootout at home. The Flames took the other tilt 3-2 in overtime on the road.

THIS, THAT & THE OTHER

This: The Flames are the only team in the NHL to have four players at or over the 30-point mark: Gaudreau leads the way with 35 points (12G - 23A), Monahan is next with 33 points (17G - 16A), then Tkachuk with his 32 points (13G - 19A), and lastly Lindholm - in his first year with the Flames - has 30 points (13G - 17A) … That:Gaudreau and Monahan are 16th and 17th, respectively, all-time in franchise scoring with 323 and 314 points … The Other:The Flames have scored five-or-more goals in a period four times this season. The other 30 teams in the NHL have combined to achieve that three times.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames: D Noah Hanifin
Hanifin has been getting involved offensively more lately, scoring against Columbus and recording an assist in the win over Chicago for two points in his last two outings. He's averaging 20:28 of ice time per outing this season and has three goals and 13 points in 28 tilts.
Wild:RW Mikael Granlund
Granlund is the stick that stirs the team's offensive drink, leading the Wild with 17 assists this season. He has four in his last two games, including setting up the game-winner against the Canucks.