5 Things – Flames vs. Kings

After three impressive wins last week, the Flames start a three-game homestand against one of the teams they’re trying to catch in the Western Conference wild-card race.

The Kings pay their first visit to the Scotiabank Saddledome this season, with Calgary eyeing up a fourth straight victory to close out the month of February. Get tickets.

The locals sit seven points behind tonight’s guests in the Pacific Division standings, with LA occupying the first wild-card berth in the conference following a 4-2 defeat last night in Edmonton.

There were no passengers in the Flames’ 6-3 win Saturday night in Edmonton. In fact, quite the contrary, with big moments generated from up and down the lineup.

Noah Hanifin and Blake Coleman set new career highs in goals, while Nazem Kadri set the tone with an early marker and – like Coleman – was a thorn in the Oilers’ collective side.

The two forwards – Coleman and Kadri – helped lead the charge in Edmonton, but when asked about their respective abilities to rally the troops Monday, Head Coach Ryan Huska pointed out some subtleties in Coleman and Kadri’s styles.

“(Coleman’s) more of a lead by example, like I see Naz as a guy that’s pulling them on by helping the two guys with him,” Huska said. “I think Coles does it the way I think he knows how, and that’s playing the right way, and I think with him it’s a hope that ‘guys will see what I do on a daily basis,’ and they’re going to follow suit.”

Tonight against the Kings, the Flames have a chance to build upon arguably their best three-game stretch of the season.

Last week’s wins came against a trio of clubs that have combined for 104 wins to this point in the campaign.

But for Huska, it wasn’t so much that his club was successful, it was how his side found a way to assert themselves.

“It was good, for sure,” he said. “A couple of those games, we had great starts: Edmonton, against Boston, we really came out of the gates the right way and I think we put our opponent on their heels, and that’s something that’s important for us.

“Even when we were pushed in those games, we didn’t fold, and we pushed right back, and that’s something for me that we’re probably most proud of in those situations and we’d like to see that mentality continue.”