Taking to the road for the first time in nearly three weeks, the Vancouver Canucks will try to pick up a third consecutive victory when they visit the Calgary Flames for a Northwest Division showdown at Pengrowth Saddledome.
The Flames, meanwhile, come into tonight having lost two straight and five of their last six games. As a result, Vancouver is just one point behind Calgary for second place in the division standings.
Calgary is 2-0 against the Canucks this year and this marks the third and final home test of this season series for the Flames. Calgary has won four of six overall against Vancouver and the Canucks have lost two straight and five of their last seven at the Saddledome.
Vancouver ended a season-long, eight-game homestand with Saturday's win over Edmonton. The Canucks went 6-2-0 during the residency and is now tied with Chicago for the most home wins in the NHL with a 16-6-0 record at General Motors Place.
However, the Canucks are just 6-10-0 as the visiting team this year and will begin a four-game road trip tonight. Vancouver will also make stops in Phoenix, St. Louis and Dallas during the swing.
Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler each recorded power-play goals 18 seconds apart in the second period to lead the Canucks to the 4-1 victory over the Oilers on Saturday. Vancouver finished 2-for-6 overall with the man advantage,
Roberto Luongo made 24 saves and Christian Ehrhoff scored an insurance goal for the Canucks, winners in three of their last four games.
"Our power play got us on the right track and our penalty killing did what they had to do," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "In the third period we kept at it and got the goal that broke their back."
Canucks forward Ryan Johnson missed Saturday's test with a sore foot and is questionable for tonight.
Calgary last played on Wednesday when it was dealt a close loss by visiting St. Louis. Brad Boyes scored the decisive goal in the shootout to lead the Blues to a 2-1 victory at the Saddledome.
After no resolution was reached in overtime, Boyes beat Calgary netminder Miikka Kiprusoff to open the second round of the shootout. Olli Jokinen's bid for the Flames caught iron, then T.J. Oshie, celebrating his 23rd birthday, found the back of the net to secure the extra point for the visitors.
Mark Giordano tied the game in the third period for Calgary, while Kiprusoff finished with 26 saves.
"When you get to a shootout anything can happen, but we've got to find a way to win at home, that's the most important thing," said Calgary head coach Brent Sutter.
Calgary is capping a four-game homestand tonight and has lost three of four and five of its last eight home tests. The Flames are 9-6-2 as the host this season.
