"Apart from this, we know where we're at. We have the standings board right in the middle of our gym. It's clear. That should be our only focus. We can talk about goals for, goals against, power play, penalty killing, goaltending…one thing matters right now is getting two points and moving up in the standings."
The Flames return home to open a three-game homestand after going 1-3-1 on a five-game road trip that ended with losses to the Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars on consecutive nights.
"You have to forget about them," said Hartley, whose Flames is 7-14-3 on the road this season. "The good part of this business is you play so many games that you can build on positive stuff and you have to forget about negative stuff. Yes, after a game we're mad and frustrated. The next morning you have to forget about this.
"You have to have the ability to understand and recognize situations and move on. This is a great group of guys. We've been very inconsistent since the start of the year and that explains our situation. But we've put ourselves in that situation. Let's shock the hockey world one more time."
The road isn't the only source of struggle for the Flames this season.
At 13.9 percent, Calgary's power play is 30th in the NHL. Their penalty kill, at 75.7 percent, is 29th. The Flames also has the second-highest goals-against average at 3.02.
Calgary is 4-8-2 against Pacific opponents, too.
"The situation we're in right now there is not much room for error and we know that," Flames captain Mark Giordano said. "We start looking too far ahead, that's when we get into trouble. We lost a couple in a row and we've got to get one back here and then get a good break and come back fresh and ready to go. We know where we're at in the standings and there's not much room for error."
Giordano suggested the push needs to start against the Predators, who are one point back of the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.
"I just feel like the position we are in we have to be a pretty desperate team tonight," he said. "We need the two points. It's always nice to go into the break with a win and hopefully come out of it on the other side. We need to get up for this game no matter if we have a break coming up or not, it's so important."
Here are the projected lineups:
PREDATORS
Mike Ribeiro - Ryan Johansen - James Neal
Filip Forsberg - Mike Fisher - Craig Smith
Miikka Salomaki - Calle Jarnkrok - Austin Watson
Eric Nystrom - Paul Gaustad - Cody Bass
Roman Josi - Shea Weber
Mattias Ekholm - Petter Granberg
Ryan Ellis - Barret Jackman
Carter Hutton
Pekka Rinne
Injured: Colin Wilson (lower body), Gabriel Bourque (upper body)
Scratched: Anthony Bitetto, Kevin Fiala
FLAMES
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Mason Raymond
Sam Bennett - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Lance Bouma - Markus Granlund - Jiri Hudler
Brandon Bollig - Matt Stajan - David Jones
Mark Giordano - TJ Brodie
Kris Russell - Dougie Hamilton
Ladislav Smid - Dennis Wideman
Karri Ramo
Jonas Hiller
Scratched: Deryk Engelland
Injured: Micheal Ferland (upper body), Josh Jooris (undisclosed), Joe Colborne (undisclosed)
Status update: The Predators did not hold a skate Wednesday. Hutton could start in place of Rinne, who made 28 saves in a 2-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. …Colborne and Jooris "are banged up" according to Hartley, and will be game-time decisions.
Who's hot: Ekholm has two goals and five points as part of a four-game point streak to match his career-high. Johansen has nine points in his first nine games since being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 6. …Colborne has two goals and three points in his past two games.
