Calgary Flames @ Florida Panthers, 5:30 PM MT, BB&T Center, Sunrise FL

The Flames have a season high 5 game winning streak that they will put on the line against the Florida Panthers Friday night. Calgary is trekking from one end of Florida to the other after taking down the NHL’s top team in the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night 5-1. The Flames have 2 more games until their league mandated 5 day break and they are super hot right now. While the 5 game winning streak is impressive, it’s how they are getting it done that is head turning. Mike Smith has won 5 straight and hasn’t given up more than 3 goals in those 5 games. The Flames top line of Micheal Ferland, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan is untouchable lately after having a bit of a cold streak in December. That trio has 26 points in their last 5, with Johnny Gaudreau leading the way with 10 of those 26. And not to be left out, the Flames special teams units are playing well. The Flames have scored 2 PPGs and killed off the last 15 penalties they’ve taken.

The Panthers just snapped a 3 game losing streak, which was their 3rd 3 game losing skid over the last 30 calendar days. Florida had been playing well with a solid 5 game winning streak, but hit a bump over their last 4 games going 1-2-1. Much like the Flames the Panthers have been riding one goaltender lately. James Reimer has gotten the start in Florida’s last 15 games and is 8-4-2 over that span, including 2 shut outs.

Calgary jumped right back into the Western Conference WC race and now hold the 7th spot, but there’s a log jam of teams within a point or 2 of each other. The Panthers meanwhile sit 6 points out the final WC spot in the East and have some serious ground to make up to get back in contention. The Panthers are 10-6-3 at BB&T Center this season, but Calgary has won 3 of their last 5 games in the swamp.

What’s Happening With The Opposition?

Litter Box Cats Panthers Coverage

Last Time Out

Calgary Flames 5 Tampa Bay Lightning 1

Not gonna lie, didn’t see this coming. This had all the set up for a demoralizing loss and end of a winning streak, but Calgary had other ideas. They played solid defence, got timely scoring and Mike Smith was an absolute stud as Calgary dropped the Lightning by the score of 5-1. Here’s our recap and the highlights from NHL.com

Florida Panthers 7 St. Louis Blues 4

The Panthers got back in the win column on Tuesday night with a 7-4 beat down of the St. Louis Blues. The win snapped a 3 game losing streak for Florida and marked James Reimer’s 8th win in his last 15 starts. Litter Box Cats has the recap and NHL.com provides the highlights.

Players To Watch

Calgary Flames

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Micheal Ferland (F). Need a big goal? Call Micheal Ferland. The Flames forward now has goals in 7 of his last 10 games and has 9 points in his last 5. Ferland has 28 points on the season and his 19 goals puts him one behind Sean Monahan for the team lead. Nine of his 19 goals have come on the road for the Flames.

Florida Panthers

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Aleksander Barkov (C). Barkov got the call to the ASG and with just cause. The 22 year old Finnish product is tied for second on the Panther in scoring with 40 points and has 7 in his last 5 games. He’s had back to back multi point games, finding the net in 3 straight. Barkov has also been a beast at home, piling up 19 points in Florida’s 18 home games.