Time: 09:00 P.M. EST Venue: Scotiabank Saddledome
The Calgary Flames may have the ideal opportunity to earn their first home win over the Philadelphia Flyers in 14 years. That's because Philadelphia is enduring another long road losing streak and will likely start a goaltender with one win away from home all season. The Flames are in desperate need of points in the Western Conference playoff chase and look to hand the Flyers an eighth straight road defeat Thursday night. Calgary (38-27-5) is trying to catch Los Angeles for the final Pacific Division postseason spot or Winnipeg for the last West wild-card slot. The Flames have dropped two straight, missing a chance to move into playoff position with Tuesday's 4-0 home defeat to St. Louis." At the end, all you can do is win as many games as you can until the end," goaltender Jonas Hiller told the Flames' official website. "I think that has to be the goal, no matter if you look at the standings or not. We know if you want to have a chance to be in, we have to win our fair share." Calgary is 0-4-1 at home against Philadelphia (29-28-15) since a 3-1 victory March 22, 2001. The Flyers come to town on an 0-4-3 road slide that is two games shy of matching their longest this season, an 0-7-2 stretch Oct. 30-Dec. 3. Philadelphia is averaging 1.64 goals on the road since the All-Star break for the league's second-worst mark. Those woes continued with Tuesday's 4-1 loss at Vancouver." It's unfortunate," goaltender Steve Mason said. "It's part of the reason we're in the position where we are. We haven't got it done on the road." Mason has posted a 1.89 goals-against average in his last 17 starts but is 1-10-6 with a 2.63 GAA in 19 on the road. The Flyers' top three leaders in goals - Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux - have combined for three during this road losing streak. Philadelphia was outshot 35-28 by Vancouver, which blocked 16 shots." We have to do a better job of getting pucks through and not getting them blocked," coach Craig Berube said. That could pose a challenge since Calgary ranks second in the league with 18.84 blocks per game. The Flyers had a season-high 33 shots blocked in a 3-2 overtime loss to the visiting Flames on March 3. Calgary's Mikael Backlund scored in that contest as part of a career-high eight-game point streak that ended Tuesday. Johnny Gaudreau assisted on the winning goal by Jiri Hudler. Gaudreau, second among rookies with 53 points, grew up rooting for Philadelphia since he hails from nearby Carney's Point, New Jersey. The Flames hope that Hudler gets untracked. He had no points in the consecutive defeats since amassing 12 in a 5-0-1 stretch that preceded them." We have to battle back," coach Bob Hartley said. "No one will give us their spot. We'll have to earn it. We knew it right from the start. We faced adversity, we battled all year, so we will not change."
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