Calgary @ Vancouver preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 9, 2019 ) Calgary 3, Vancouver 4

Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano has played a significant role in helping his team battle for Pacific Division supremacy, as well as bolstering his resume in a bid for a Norris Trophy to boot. Giordano carries a six-game point streak (one goal, six assists) into the Flames' road game versus the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

"It's a good thing we're in this race for the division -- it's keeping us sharp and keeping us focused and hopefully that will lead to us playing our best hockey going into the playoffs," the 35-year-old Giordano told Sportsnet.ca. "It's great. You come to the rink and the mood is great and guys are feeling good about themselves." First-place Calgary has reason to feel good with wins in five of its last six games, with Giordano netting the team's league-leading 18th short-handed goal in Thursday's 5-1 romp over Ottawa. The Canucks also got the better of the league-worst Senators, extending their winning streak to three contests after opening a season-high seven-game homestand with a 7-4 triumph on Wednesday. "Down the stretch here we have been playing some good hockey," Vancouver forward Bo Horvat said of his team's postseason chances. "We're just going to keep plugging away and try and make a run for it. We're playing good hockey. We just have to keep it up."

TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC, Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet 1, CITY

ABOUT THE FLAMES (46-21-7): Calgary has squeezed a considerable amount out of its top line (Johnny Gaureau, Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm) and even received significant contributions out of its 3M Line (Mikael Backlund, Michael Frolik, Matthew Tkachuk), but the six-point performance of the fourth line (Derek Ryan, Andrew Mangiapane, Garnet Hathaway) on Thursday drew rave reviews. "The whole game I thought they were awesome," Tkachuk said. "...Time and time again, the longer the season goes, the better they've gotten. They're trending in the right direction right now." The 22-year-old Mangiapane scored a goal in a 4-3 shootout loss at the Canucks Feb. 9.

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (32-32-10): Brock Boeser is riding a career-high eight-game point streak (three goals, six assists) for Vancouver, which resides five points in back of Minnesota for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The 22-year-old was held in check in the season-opening, home-and-home set with Calgary before scoring and setting up a goal in a 3-2 overtime win against the Flames on Dec. 29 and tallying again in the shootout victory last month. Rookie Elias Pettersson, whose 27 goals are tied with Horvat for the team lead, has eight points (four goals, four assists) versus Calgary.

OVERTIME

1. Vancouver LW Loui Eriksson collected four points (one goal, three assists) against the Senators after mustering just three in his previous 23 games combined.

2. Flames G David Rittich has turned aside 102 of 112 shots in his last four starts (4-0-0).

3. Vancouver G Jacob Markstrom, who has stopped 138 of 150 shots versus Calgary this season (3-1-0), owns a 16-8-5 mark at home in 2018-19.

PREDICTION: Flames 4, Canucks 2