Avalanche at Flames
The Calgary Flames have won consecutive contests for only the second time this season and try for their first three-game win streak when they host the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. Karri Ramo yielded only a pair of goals in those two victories and the Flames saw the return of captain Mark Giordano on defense in the 4-1 triumph over Phoenix on Wednesday. Calgary will have to be just as sharp against Colorado, which is 9-3-0 on the road despite an 8-2 defeat at Edmonton on Thursday.
The Avalanche had won five of their previous six games before giving up the most goals all season at Edmonton. Matt Duchene and captain Gabriel Landeskog each had a point in the loss and lead the team with 21. Colorado defeated Calgary 4-2 in Denver on Nov. 8 as Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and an assist.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), SNET-West (Calgary)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (19-7-0): Despite the off night on defense, Colorado is still in the top third of the league in goals against as goalies Jean-Sebastien Giguere (6-0-0, .949 save percentage) and Semyon Varlamov (13 wins, .923 SP) have shined. Defenseman Jan Hejda, who shares the team lead with a plus-17 rating, left the Edmonton game with a knee injury and is questionable for Friday. The Avalanche will need more from forwards Paul Stastny (zero points, four games) and O’Reilly (one point, five games).
ABOUT THE FLAMES (9-13-4): Center Mikael Backlund snapped an 18-game goal drought on Wednesday and Giordano had a goal and an assist in his return from a broken ankle, which kept him out 18 games. Jiri Hudler leads the way for Calgary with 25 points and rookie center Sean Monahan, who is close to a return from a foot injury, is next with 15. Ramo stopped 50 of 52 shots against Phoenix and Los Angeles after Reto Berra had made 11 consecutive starts and went 3-6-2 with a .888 save percentage.
OVERTIME
1. Avalanche D Erik Johnson has two assists and is a plus-5 over the last five contests.
2. Calgary RW Lee Stempniak leads the team with 65 shots on goal, eight more than anyone on the team despite missing seven games.
3. Colorado is 0-of-15 on the power play the last five games and the Flames are 5-of-53 with the man advantage since Oct. 22.