Red Wings at Flames
The Calgary Flames are making it clear they belong in the postseason as they host the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. Calgary defeated Pacific Division rival and playoff-position pursuer Los Angeles 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday for its fifth straight victory and 10th in the last 13 games (10-2-1) to open a solid lead in the Western Conference wild-card race while getting within within two points of Anaheim for third place in the Pacific.
"The team's been playing really good right now," the Flames' Micheal Ferland told reporters Tuesday after scoring for the fourth time in five games. "We know how important these games are and we want to just keep trying to get points." Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan added: "We are confident and we should be. We are a good hockey team and we've been trying to build that up all season right from that start." The Flames prevailed 3-2 in the first of two meetings this season Nov. 20 on Mikael Backlund's goal with 7:46 remaining. Detroit defeated Vancouver 3-2 in overtime Tuesday for its third victory in four games but is tied for last in the Eastern Conference with Carolina as it appears the Red Wings will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1990.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, Sportsnet West (Calgary)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (25-26-10): Detroit was in rare sell mode this season and moved Thomas Vanek, Tomas Jurco, Brendan Smith and Steve Ott in exchange for draft picks and young defenseman Dylan McIlrath. Vanek had the second-most points on the team with 38 behind captain Henrik Zetterberg (club bests of 34 assists and 48 points), who has a goal and six assists in his last four games. Frans Nielsen (13 goals, 30 points) scored twice Tuesday and has three goals and an assist in his last four games while goaltender Petr Mrazek (2.95 goals against average) won three of his last four starts and allowed 12 goals in his last six games.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (34-26-4): Calgary has no shortage of firepower offensively, so the Flames didn't feel the need to make a big splash at the trade deadline after earlier acquiring defenseman Matt Bartkowski and Michael Stone. Backlund (team-leading 45 points) centers the second line featuring rookie Matthew Tkachuk (club-most 30 assists, 41 points) and Michael Frolik (35 points) while Sean Monahan (team-high 20 goals, 40 points) is in the middle of the No. 1 unit with Ferland and Johnny Gaudreau (30 assists, 43 points). Ferland scored six of his 12 goals this season in February, Gaudreau recorded two goals and six assists in the last five contests while Monahan (100 goals, 99 assists in 301 career games) had a goal and four assists during that span.
OVERTIME
1. Red Wings F Gustav Nyquist (seven goals, 29 points) serves the final contest of a six-game suspension for high-sticking Minnesota D Jared Spurgeon and is eligible to return Saturday in Edmonton.
2. Calgary is 7-2 in overtime and 3-2 in shootouts this season while Detroit is 4-10 and 7-0.
3. The Red Wings killed 18-of-19 penalties over the last five games while the Flames' power play is 1-for-25 over the past nine contests.