Flames at Coyotes
The Calgary Flames attempt to extend their winning streak to four games when they visit the Pacific Division-rival Arizona Coyotes on Friday. Calgary, which trails Nashville by five points for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, improved to 4-1-0 this month with Thursday's 6-5 shootout triumph at San Jose.
Leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau and fellow forwards Sean Monahan and Lance Bouma were back in the lineup following a one-game suspension for being late to practice, with Monahan scoring a goal to run his point streak to four games. Arizona, which is one point ahead of Calgary in the West, remains in search of its first win of the month as it enters with a five-game losing streak. The Coyotes put forth a better defensive effort in Wednesday's 2-1 setback against Vancouver, however, as they surrendered five or more goals in each of their previous four contests. Arizona is 2-0-0 in the five-game season series after posting a pair of 2-1 victories.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Sportsnet 360 (Calgary), FSN Arizona
ABOUT THE FLAMES (25-25-3): Jonas Hiller is likely to be in net after replacing an injured Karri Ramo late in Thursday's triumph. Ramo was helped off the ice after being crashed into by San Jose's Joonas Donskoi with three minutes remaining in the third period. Calgary also could be without David Jones on Friday as the forward also exited the win over the Sharks with an undisclosed injury.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (24-23-6): Captain Shane Doan is on the verge of becoming the franchise's all-time scoring leader as he needs two points to pass Dale Hawerchuk (929) for the honor. The 39-year-old also is one tally shy of reaching the 20-goal plateau for the 13th time in his career. Mikkel Boedker is tied for second on the team with 35 points but has scored just one goal in his last 18 games.
OVERTIME
1. Flames rookie C Sam Bennett has collected six points (two goals) during his three-game streak.
2. Arizona has won only two of its last 11 contests (2-7-2).
3. Gaudreau is three goals shy of matching his total as a rookie last season.