Islanders at Flames
The Calgary Flames try for their seventh straight victory and to halt a five-game slide against the Islanders when they host New York on Sunday afternoon. Calgary defeated Detroit 3-2 in overtime Friday for its fourth one-goal decision to go along with a pair of two-goal verdicts during a winning streak that catapulted the Flames seven points clear of ninth-place St. Louis in the Western Conference and to within two points of third in the Pacific Division.
"A lot of belief, a lot of confidence and swagger with this group right now," Calgary's Mikael Backlund told reporters after scoring in overtime Friday. "We're playing some good hockey. We get down a goal and we still believe we can come back." The Flames won Friday for the the NHL-best 17th time when giving up the first goal and improved to a league-best 25-0-1 when leading after two periods. The Islanders are coming off a 2-1 shootout loss in Chicago on Friday, allowing the tying goal with 1:14 left in regulation, but hold the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. New York prevailed 2-1 in overtime Nov. 28 in the first of two meetings this season on defenseman Thomas Hickey's goal, marking their fourth 2-1 victory over Calgary during the winning streak.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), Sportsnet West, Sportsnet Flames (Calgary)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (30-22-11): New York is 3-1-1 on its season-high nine-game road trip with captain John Tavares (team-high 53 points) recording two goals and two assists during the trek. Tavares shares the club lead with 23 goals alongside Anders Lee, who scored once in the last seven games after recording five in the previous seven contests. Josh Bailey (12 goals, 44 points) has a goal and four assists in the last five games while Brock Nelson scored once and assisted on three others during that span.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (35-26-4): Backlund (club-most 46 points) and Sean Monahan (41) share the team lead in goals with 20 while Monahan's assist Friday was the 100th of his career and 200th point. Goalie Brian Elliott is 9-1-1 with a .925 save percentage in starting 11 of the last 14 games after beginning the season 8-12-2. Kris Versteeg (11 goals) scored for the first time in 11 games Friday while rookie Matthew Tkachuk (12) also tallied Friday and has two goals and six assists in his last eight contests.
OVERTIME
1. Islanders D Travis Hamonic returned Friday after missing 24 games with a lower-body injury and recorded an assist to go along with a plus-1 rating in 21:18 of ice time, which is 28 seconds above his season average.
2. Calgary scored a power-play goal Friday but is 2-for-28 with the man advantage over the last 10 games while New York is 2-for-21 in its past nine.
3. The Islanders won their last six games when scoring two or fewer goals in their previous contest.