5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. PANTHERS

FLAMES (30-20-8: 68 pts.) vs PANTHERS (25-23-6: 56 pts.)

1. US

The Flames wrapped up their six-game road trip with a 4-3 win over the Predators Thursday night. The Flames used powerplay goals from Matthew Tkachuk and Dougie Hamilton to erase one-goal deficits in the first and second periods before Mark Jankowski and Curtis Lazar found the back of the net in the third to give the Flames a 4-2 lead. Nick Bonino made it a one-goal game with less than 10 minutes left in regulation, but David Rittich shut the door down the stretch, finishing with 29 saves to earn the win. Ryan Johansen and Yannick Weber scored Nashville's other goals and Pekka Rinne made 27 saves as the Predators failed to earn a point for the first time in eight games … The Flames went two-for-three on the powerplay and were five-for-five on the penalty kill … After going without a goal through his first 39 games of the season, Lazar scored for the second time in four contests.

2. THEM

The Panthers enter Saturday's matchup following a 4-3 road win over the Canucks on Wednesday night. Michael Del Zotto gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead just 37 seconds into the game, but Evgenii Dadonov, Jamie McGinn, Alexander Petrovic and Nick Bjugstad all had first-period tallies to give the Panthers a 4-2 lead after 20 minutes. Jacob Markstrom allowed four goals on 14 shots before being replaced at the start of the second by Anders Nilsson, who stopped all 20 shots he faced in relief. Bo Horvat had the Canucks other first-period tally and Brock Boeser added his 27th of the year on a second-period powerplay, but the Canucks failed to find the equalizer as Panthers goalie James Reimer made 34 saves for the win … The Panthers are 6-1-0 in their last seven games.

3. US vs. THEM

This is the second of two regular-season meetings between the Flames and Panthers. The Flames skated to a 4-2 road victory on Jan. 12 for their sixth straight win. Monahan, Tkachuk Gaudreau and Mikael Backlund, into an empty net, all scored for the Flames and Rittich made 41 saves. Dadonov had both goals for the Panthers and leads his team with two points against the Flames this year. Backlund, meanwhile, had a three-point outing (1G+2A) as the Flames top point-getter against the Panthers this season … both teams scored a powerplay goal in their last meeting.

4. THIS, THAT & THE OTHER

This: The Flames finished their six-game road trip with a 4-2-0 record to improve to 17-7-5 on the road this season … Their 17 road victories are tied with Vegas for second in the league behind the Tampa Bay Lightning with 19 ... That: The Flames are 7-3-1 in Saturday match-ups this season ... The Other: Saturday's tilt will be the 400th regular-season game of Hamilton's career … he has 57 goals and 207 points over six seasons with the Flames and Bruins.

5. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames: C Sean Monahan
The Flames top-line pivot has not scored in four games but has three assists over that span. Prior to that, he had five goals and an assist over a four-game scoring streak. Despite not scoring, Monahan has 10 shots on goal in his last four outings, including a team-high six shots against the Predators on Thursday. The 23-year-old leads the Flames with 27 goals this season, which is also tied for ninth-most in the NHL.
Panthers: C Aleksander Barkov
The 22-year-old Finn had a pair of assists in his team's win against the Canucks on Wednesday, giving him seven points (3G+4A) in his last six games. He sits third on his team with 50 points and his 18 goals are tied for second among all Panthers. Barkov leads the NHL with five shorthanded goals this season.