DÉJÀ VU

VANCOUVER, B.C. - It appears a proper nickname is in order.
From the illustrious Triple Crown Line, to The French Connection in Buffalo, the game's greatest combinations all had a clever call sign.
So what has the Flames' hottest unit come up with, considering the tear they've enjoyed recently?
"Doc and Hath like the 'DAG Line,'" said Andrew Mangiapane, adding the three-letter acronym was purely a Derek Ryan creation, following Saturday's game on the west coast.
"It's OK with me."
Eh…
Give it time. Feel it out.
The way the troupe's rolling right now, though, a spicy new moniker will surely make the rounds in no time.

Forty-eight hours after leading the Flames to a 5-1 victory with a combined six-point effort against the Ottawa Senators, the Ryan, Mangiapane and Garnet Hathaway trio was back at it in a big way.
Hathaway, in particular, had one of his best games of the season, drawing an assist on the game's opening goal and scoring a pivotal insurance marker late in the second period, as the Flames went on to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 at Rogers Arena.

Mangiapane rounded out the offence with a filthy one-time blast early in the third, while Mark Giordano - who had the assist on No. 88's marker - led all skaters with a goal and two helpers.
Ryan, meanwhile, had one assist to give the high-scoring, highly publicized fourth line a tidy four points in the victory, and help the Flames improve to 47-21-7 for 101 points on the year.
"It's the fundamentals that we're working on," Hathaway said. "If we're not doing the small stuff, if we're not reloading, if we're not tracking back and being defensively-minded first, I don't think we'd be getting the chances that we are right now.
It's only the fifth time in franchise history the Flames have recorded 100 or more points in a season.
The Flames now have a six-point lead on the San Jose Sharks in the chase for their first division title in 13 years.
Seven games remain.
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The Ryan line has now out-scored their opponents an incredible 13-2 in even-strength situations over the course of their 35-game showing this year.
"That line's been real good," said head coach Bill Peters. "The difference is, they're finishing off more plays than they did earlier in the year. They're starting to get rewarded for their effort. It's good. We need depth scoring and tonight, they were involved in all three.
"They're getting rewarded for the work they're putting in."
The Flames opened the scoring at 9:45 of the first, off a marvellous bit of board work.
Mangiapane started the play by retrieving the puck at the point and feeding a wide-open Hathaway at the left hash. Hathaway then dished off to Ryan, who faked a short-side try and made a great read to find Giordano streaking in from the far point. The captain made no mistake on the one-timer, striking it glove-side on Jacob Markstrom to record the 70th of 72 points in this, a Norris-caliber campaign.
With the goal - No. 16 on the year - Giordano became the first Calgary defenceman to hit the 70-point mark since Al MacInnis' 82 (28G, 54A) in the 1993-94 season.

"They don't cheat the game," Giordano said, adding their involvement offensively is giving all the blueliners a chance to pinch in more aggressively. "They play the right way. The third guy is always up top, so as D men we can get down there think offence."
The Flames opened up a two-goal lead with only 2:23 to play in the second, courtesy of Hathaway hitting double digits in the goal column for the first time in his career.
Giordano made a remarkable read to step up and intercept a stretch pass, turning it back in transition on a partial odd-man rush. The skipper took it down the left-wing boards and put a pass into the slot, where Hathaway corralled the bouncing the puck and swept it home on the backhand.

"It was good intensity out there," Giordano said. "I thought the crowd was involved. We knew it was going to be like that. They're trying to get into that last playoff spot and are fighting for every point. I thought we did a great job. We generated some zone time, some good, quality chances. I thought it was a good game for us."
The Canucks cut the deficit in half with a powerplay goal early in the third, as Brock Boeser took a rolling into the high slot and leaned into a wrister that found the open side just nine seconds into a Johnny Gaudreau penalty.
But the Flames got it right back, with the captain and kid hooking up to score a beauty to restore the visitors' two-goal edge. Giordano made a great play at the blueline, two-stepping his way around a Vancouver defender before setting up Mangiapane for a one-timer at the right circle. The rookie's high, hard blast hit nothin' but net to give him goals in three straight and seven on the year.

"I think it starts with good communication," Mangiapane said. "I've said it before, but if I have a question, I can talk to Hath, I can talk to Doc. We sort it out, figure it out. They're good buddies on and off the ice. We all sit beside each other on the plane, so we're building chemistry like that, too."