Carolina Hurricanes Look to Complete Western Canada Sweep Against Depleted Calgary Flames

The Carolina Hurricanes are rolling through Western Canada. After beating Vancouver 6-4 on Wednesday and Edmonton 6-3 on Friday, the Eastern Conference leaders visit Calgary on Saturday night looking to finish the trip with a clean sweep.Carolina has been dominant over the last stretch. Rod Brind'Amour's group has gone 12-1-2 in its last 15 games with just one regulation loss. The offense has been particularly explosive in the last two outings, pouring in 12 goals while outshooting the Oilers 32-16 on Friday.

Calgary Flames Face Carolina Hurricanes With Stripped-Down Roster After Deadline

Jackson Blake scored twice in Edmonton and set the tone for Saturday's approach. "Obviously, back-to-backs are tough, traveling and getting to bed late, but no excuses," Blake said.

"We've just got to have the same mindset and just finish this road trip on a big win."The lone blemish from Friday was losing defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to a lower-body injury after the first period. It marks the fourth different injury that has cost him games this season, with 17 missed in total. "It's obviously not good," Brind'Amour said. "He's kind of been dealing with stuff all year. Just when he kind of gets rolling, he keeps getting nicked up."

Jalen Chatfield praised the team's response after losing Gostisbehere. "I don't think there was a guy that took a shift off," Chatfield said. "We had to step up and fill in for that."Calgary enters Saturday in rough shape. The Flames have lost four straight and sit next-to-last in the NHL standings. The roster looks dramatically different after a flurry of deadline moves.General manager Craig Conroy dealt top center Nazem Kadri to Colorado for Victor Olofsson, conditional draft picks and a prospect.

Defenseman MacKenzie Weegar went to Utah for Olli Maatta, three second-round picks and a prospect. Ryan Strome was acquired from Anaheim to provide some veteran stability up the middle. Calgary has won just three of its last 13 games and been outscored 10-2 during its current homestand. The youth movement is accelerating."It's about getting this organization back to where we want to be consistently," Conroy said.

"It's frustrating because I hate losing games, but it's a learning process."Strome embraced the mentorship role. "It's an opportunity to play but also to spread my knowledge and help guys out," he told the Flames' website. The Hurricanes lead the Eastern Conference and will look to keep building momentum heading into the final month of the regular season.