Back at It
The Hurricanes didn't let an eight-day gap in the schedule stall their momentum from late January, as they returned to the ice and bested the defending Western Conference champions by a 5-2 margin. Five different players scored for the Canes, including Sebastian Aho, who has points in four straight games (2g, 5a) and Justin Faulk, who now owns the franchise record for points by a defenseman (242).
"Coming out of the break, that's a good game. That's a good one to build off of. Especially the way we were playing before the break, to not take a step back and keep going is big for this group," said Jordan Martinook, who tallied the game-winning goal to cap a banner week for the new dad and newly re-signed forward. "We can't let any games slip. The desperation in that game shows how much everybody cares in here and how much we want to keep pushing this thing forward."
PROJECTED LINEUP
The victory, the Canes' 10th in their last 14 games, moved the team within three points of a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
All In
In each of their nine wins in the new year, the Hurricanes have scored four or more goals. And, it's not just the top players contributing.
That's been the recipe for success.
"The pucks have found a way to go in for us," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said after practice on Saturday. "Obviously, we want to keep that trend going."
Nino Niederreiter has been a key contributor since joining the Canes on Jan. 17, as he's become the third player in franchise history to record five goals in his first five games with the club.
The Last Meeting
These two teams met less than two weeks ago, just prior to the All-Star break, in what was a hard-fought point for the Hurricanes in a 3-2 overtime loss. Aho scored the game-tying goal with 43.4 seconds remaining in regulation, but Mikael Backlund tallied the game-winner for Calgary just 15 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime.
It was a battle. It was a grind. It was a great effort that came up just shy.
"It was a good game, but we didn't get the win," Brind'Amour said. "We didn't score enough. … We didn't get it done, so we've got to try again."
The Opposition
The Flames headed into what was a nine-day break with that 3-2 overtime win on Jan. 22, and the team returned to action on Friday and dropped a 4-3 decision to the defending Stanley Cup champions in Washington. The Flames are still 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, and former Hurricane Elias Lindholm is riding a nine-game point streak (2g, 9a).
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS KEYS TO THE GAME
