Flames at Maple Leafs
The Calgary Flames look to extend their point streak to five contests as they continue their three-game road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. Calgary, which likely will miss the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons as it sits 12 points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 10 games remaining, began its trek with a 4-1 triumph at Montreal on Sunday to improve to 3-0-1 during its run and 5-1-2 in its last eight contests.
Sean Monahan has been heating up of late, registering nine points (five goals) over his last six games to raise his season total to 55 - seven shy of the career high he set last campaign. Toronto is halfway through its season-high six-game homestand after bookending 4-1 victories over Tampa Bay and Buffalo around a loss to Florida by the identical score. Nazem Kadri has recorded a team-leading 37 points but is in the midst of a five-game drought for the Maple Leafs, who will be postseason spectators for the 10th time in 11 seasons as they sit in the league basement with 61 points. Calgary looks to complete a sweep of the two-game season series after holding on to edge Toronto 4-3 at home on Feb. 9.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Calgary), TSN4 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE FLAMES (31-35-6): Monahan has registered three-point performances in two of his last four games and has scored five goals in that span to pull within one of Johnny Gaudreau (27) for the team lead. The 22-year-old Gaudreau maintained his slim advantage by ending his four-game goal-scoring drought in Sunday's win. Veteran Niklas Backstrom made 21 saves against the Canadiens in his first start since Jan. 13, 2015 and will make another on Thursday, when Calgary concludes its road trip against the goaltender's former team in Minnesota.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (25-35-11): With its playoff chances extinguished quite some time ago, Toronto is getting a good look at its young prospects. Eleven players who were in Saturday's lineup are aged 23 or younger while the 20-year-old Frederik Gauthier became the 11th Maple Leaf this season - and ninth in three weeks - to make his NHL debut. Leo Komarov leads the team with 19 goals despite missing the last two games with a lower-body injury and being kept off the scoresheet in the previous four contests.
OVERTIME
1. The Flames are seeking their first three-game road winning streak of the season.
2. Toronto C Nazem Kadri tops the club with 37 points but has gone without one in five straight games and eight of his last nine.
3. Calgary D Mark Giordano needs one point to eclipse the personal-best total of 48 he recorded last season and one tally to reach the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career.