Senators at Flames
The Ottawa Senators attempt to conclude their trek across Western Canada on a high note when they visit the Calgary Flames on Saturday. Ottawa began its three-game road trip with an overtime loss in Vancouver on Tuesday before defeating Edmonton in the extra session two days later. Mike Hoffman opened the scoring as the Senators built a 3-0 lead in the first period but squandered it before the rookie capped his second two-goal performance in five games at 2:39 of overtime.
Calgary kicked off its five-game homestand with a 5-3 triumph over Arizona on Thursday. Paul Byron registered his first career two-goal effort and David Jones extended his goal-scoring streak to three games while adding an assist as the Flames netted at least five tallies for the third time in six contests. Calgary is in the midst of its second five-game homestand already this season, having gone 2-1-2 on its stretch last month.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC, TVA2
ABOUT THE SENATORS (8-4-4): The rest of the hockey world learned what Ottawa had known for a while - general manager Bryan Murray is battling Stage 4 colon cancer. The 71-year-old Murray, who has been the team's GM since 2007, made the severity of his situation public during an interview with TSN that aired Thursday. "There is no cure at this point for me," Murray said. "The word is that we'll keep doing chemo and hopefully reduce the tumors and the effect and I'll get some time out of that."
ABOUT THE FLAMES (10-6-2): Calgary needed only 18 games to reach the 10-win plateau this season, the third-fewest amount of contests necessary to hit the milestone in franchise history. The 2001-02 club reached the mark in 14 games while the 2009-10 squad did it in 15 contests. Last campaign, the Flames didn't register their 10th victory until Dec. 4 - their 27th game of the season.
OVERTIME
1. Flames G Karri Ramo is expected to make the start Saturday, just his third since Oct. 25.
2. Ottawa has earned at least one point in five of its last six games (3-1-2).
3. Calgary captain Mark Giordano has collected five goals and eight assists during his eight-game point streak.