[Puppet Guy]

They're back from the road - with a successful tour behind them, the Flames return to the snug Saddledome for a date with the Panthers.

A little Flames' table-setting (www.calgarysun.com)

On Thursday at Nashville, Flames captain Mark Giordano moved into fifth all-time for games played with the franchise (731). Giordano passed Joel Otto who played 730 games from 1984 to 1995. Giordano trails Theoren Fleury (791) for fourth place. He is on a two-game point streak. “It means a lot,” Giordano said. “Any time you can play that many games on one team obviously I take a lot of pride in that and hopefully I can keep moving up.”

C Sean Monahan had two assists on Thursday but is on a four-game goal-less skid. RW Micheal Ferland is on a three-game point-less skid and hasn’t scored in seven … Meanwhile their linemate LW Johnny Gaudreau is approaching 20 goals and is on an eight-game point streak. Heading into Friday’s action, he was sitting with 68 points (19 goals and 49 assists) in 58 games, which was No. 2 in NHL scoring behind Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov who had 76 points (31 goals and 45 assists). Gaudreau was also second in NHL assists.


The Panthers (25-23-6) have won six of their last seven games including four straight on the road … Their top three marksmen are LW Jonathan Huberdeau (18 goals and 35 assists), C Vincent Trocheck (21 goals and 30 assists), and C Aleksander Barkov (18 goals and 32 assists) … The Panthers schedule is about to heat up. In the next seven games, they’re facing seven current playoff teams. This weekend features a back-to-back set of road games Saturday against the Flames and Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets.

some Panthers' news (www.floridapanthers.com)

Roberto Luongo is ready to go.

After serving as the backup goalie on Wednesday in Vancouver, Luongo is expected to return to the net for the first time in over two months when the Florida Panthers face off against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Luongo hasn't played since suffering a groin injury while attempting to make a right pad save during the second period of a matchup against the New York Islanders at BB&T Center on Dec. 4. He returned to practice on Feb. 8 and was activated off injured reserve on Wednesday.

In 15 games prior to the injury, Luongo was playing some of the best hockey of his Hall of Fame-worthy career, going 6-6-1 with a 2.61 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage. The save percentage is the lowest of his career since 2010-11, when he was a Vezina Trophy finalist for the Canucks.


- Since Feb. 1, Florida's power play is operating at the second-best rate in the NHL, going 8-for-24 with the man advantage over the last six games. With a 1-for-4 performance in Vancouver on Wednesday, the power play moved up to 21st in the league at 18.5 percent.

- Nick Bjugstad has recorded seven assists over his last 11 games - the third-most on the Panthers during that span. The 25-year-old forward snapped out of a 19-game goal drought on Wednesday, scoring the game-winning goal in Vancouver. Bjugstad's 10 goals are the sixth-most on the Panthers.

- Evgenii Dadonov enters Saturday's matchup with goals in back-to-back games. The 28-year-old winger has tallied nine points (7-3-10) over his last 12 games, including the game-winning goal on a penalty shot on Monday in Edmonton. In his first season with the Panthers, he currently ranks fourth on the team in goals (14) and points (34).

- Florida is 16-0-0 when leading after two periods this season.

Flames' lineup (www.dailyfaceoff.com). Subject to change:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik
Bennett - Jankowski - Hathaway
Lomberg - Stajan - Lazar

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Hamonic
Kulak - Stone

Rittich

Panthers' lineup (www.floridapanthers.com). Subject to change:

Dadonov - Barkov - Bjugstad
Huberdeau - Trocheck - Malgin
McGinn - McCann - Vrbata
Haley - MacKenzie - Sceviour

Yandle - Ekblad
Matheson - Pysyk
Weegar - Petrovic

7uongo

...and it's a chilly morning in Calgary, so you need a dose of sunshine to get going. Perhaps that can be provided by a glass of fresh-squeezed Florida oranges?

Spoiler!

Go Flams