'FIGHT THE REST OF THE WAY'

Between the travel, jam-packed schedule and mandatory rest days, mid-season practice time comes at a premium in this league.
Guess you better make the most of it!
"Yeah, that was a good little rinse," Blake Coleman laughed of Friday's 45-minute-long grinder. "Welcome back to Calgary altitude. ... It's good. Obviously, we had the day yesterday to get a light workout after a back-to-back and now, (we) rev the engines back up here."

The Flames took to the ice at WinSport at 9:45 a.m. before the formal proceedings kicked off about 10 minutes later. For the next three-quarters of an hour, the players went up and down, over and over, carving up the sheet into something that resembled the well-loved, natural canvas at the nearby Bowness Lagoon.
It was truly one of the hardest workouts you'll ever see at this level, with frequent water breaks - clearly - not built into Head Coach Darryl Sutter's agenda.
Just goes to show that the Flames - who've answered the bell with a 4-1-1 record in the past 12 days - aren't 'resting' on their laurels. With a seventh straight Pacific Division tilt on deck for New Year's Eve, they feel it's important to keep the pedal down.
"I think we're starting to realize we're a team that's got to grind out wins," Coleman said. "Play in those close games - one-goal, two-goal games - and find ways to win 'em.
"We're building the right way. Obviously, we want the last home game back, so we've got to respond the right way (on Saturday)."

If Tuesday's 2-1 loss hadn't come at the hands of the archrival Oilers, it probably would have been easier to stomach after outshooting them 47-22, including a 24-4 spread in the third period.
Things are just that close in the Pacific, that regardless of how it played out, you can't help but feel the sting of points lost - especially when that very team that beat you then leapfrogs you in the standings.
That could have gone one of two ways. Just like how a 2-1 deficit the other night in Seattle could have, but the Flames dug deep and responded the way they needed to, grabbing a 3-2 victory in what was a real gutsy effort in the second of a back-to-back.
"That's been a little bit an issue for us this year, those one-goal games," said Nikita Zadorov. "We showed some character and I think we're starting building as the team. I think - if you look at last year's team - we were way better defensively and gave up (fewer) goals than we are right now. That's definitely our goal, to clean that up and give up less."
He's right. In the team's first 37 games last year, the Flames allowed only 94 goals. Only the Carolina Hurricanes - whose goaltending tandem of Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta went on to win the Jennings Trophy - surrendered less (88) in that same span.
This year, the Flames are in the middle of the pack, digging 110 pucks out of their own net.
"Especially after a break - maybe you don't have your legs, maybe you don't have your hands or something like that - so you have to battle through it," Zadorov said. "I think we're getting better in that area, for sure. We're playing better defensively, our goaltending's been good and our forwards are helping us more on the defensive side as well, so I think it's trending in the right direction."

Indeed, they are.
After giving up an average of 3.06 goals per game in their first 31 outings, they've trimmed that to 2.50 in the past six. That's what it has to look like for Flames to be successful as we head into the new year.
The Flames enter the day third in the Pacific with a 17-13-7 record for 41 points, one up on both the Oilers and Seattle Kraken, who have games in hand. With those two teams going head-to-head tonight in the Emerald City, one or both could temporarily surge past them in the standings.
Forty-five games remain.
That's a ton of racetrack for everyone jockeying in the playoff race.
But if the past few weeks have taught us anything about life in the Pacific, this back-and-forth is the new normal.

"It's going to be grind from now on," said Tyler Toffoli, who scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season on Wednesday against the Kraken. "We obviously let some games go there (before the California trip). We weren't playing the way we wanted and we let games slip and put ourselves in this kind of position. Where we're at, we know we're going to have to battle and fight the rest of the way."
"That's going to be our M.O. this year, I think," added Coleman. "We don't want to be fighting for a wild-card spot; we want to be a team that's pushing for a Top 3 spot in our division. We've gotten close to putting ourselves where we want to be, but we've still got some climbing to do before the all-star break."