Canucks at Flames
The holiday break has appeared to do wonders for the Vancouver Canucks, who aim for their seventh consecutive victory when they wrap up a home-and-home series by visiting the Calgary Flames on Saturday. Vancouver entered the break having lost three of four contests, including a 4-1 decision in Calgary on Dec. 23, but posted a 4-2 home victory over the Flames on Friday to extend its winning streak to six games.
Markus Granlund ended his six-game point drought in a big way, scoring two goals and setting up another to burn his former team. Calgary is seeking its third straight home victory as it looks to remain ahead of Vancouver in the Pacific. The Flames are one point ahead of the Canucks for fourth place in the division, as well as the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Michael Frolik hopes to stay hot, as he scored both goals in Friday's loss to give him eight points in his last six contests.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC, Sportsnet
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (20-18-3): Vancouver managed to register only 13 shots Friday while allowing 46 — the largest negative differential (minus-33) in a victory in franchise history. Captain Henrik Sedin was kept off the scoresheet Friday, keeping him four points shy of 1,000 for his career, but his focus is on the club's performance. "He doesn't like to talk about those types of things, and right now, it's all about the team and winning games," brother Daniel told the team's website regarding the milestone.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (21-18-2): Matthew Tkachuk is riding a point streak that reached eight games with his assist Friday. The 19-year-old left wing, who has recorded a goal and eight assists during the run, is the first Flames rookie to notch a point in eight straight contests since Joe Nieuwendyk posted a franchise rookie-record 14-game streak from Dec. 20, 1987-Jan. 21, 1988. Mikael Backlund notched a pair of assists Friday to raise his team-leading point total to 27 and extend his streak to six games (six goals, five assists).
OVERTIME
1. Canucks D Chris Tanev is questionable after leaving Friday's game in the first period with a right shoulder injury while LW Alex Burrows is expected to play after missing the victory with an illness.
2. Tkachuk was the only skater for the Flames not to register a shot on goal Friday.
3. Vancouver G Ryan Miller is one win away from tying Evgeni Nabokov (353) for 20th place on the all-time list.