Calgary Flames fans holding out hope for a playoff spot were dealt a serious blow this weekend. The Flames had a tough back-to-back set against two of the NHL’s best teams in the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes and looked like the inferior opponent in both, being outscored by a combined 12-3.
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These games were just the second and third the Flames have played since making their last roster move ahead of the deadline, as they sent Noah Hanifin to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for defenceman Daniil Miromanov and two draft picks. They were able to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first game without Hanifin by a 6-3 final, but these last two outings prove that things may be difficult for the Flames down the stretch. That said, they aren’t out of it just yet.
Strong Final Push Needed
With their ugly weekend, the Flames’ record sits at 31-28-5 on the season, giving them 67 points. They sit eight points shy of the Golden Knights for the final wild-card position in the Western Conference, with both having played 64 games. The fact that the Flames have no games in hand hurts their chances even further, with MoneyPuck odds currently giving them just a 6.7 percent chance of capturing a postseason spot. As mentioned, the odds are slim but remain possible.
The good news for the Flames is that the Golden Knights have really been struggling as of late. Since Jan. 1, they have a 12-13-2 record, which ranks 23rd in the league. Over that same stretch, the Flames have gone 16-12-0.
Things have gone even worse for the Golden Knights as of late, as they struggled through the entire month of February and are just 3-6-1 over their last 10 outings. They were able to land some major additions at the trade deadline which should help, but there is no guarantee that they can gel in time to get things turned around before the end of the season.
If the Flames want to make up some quick ground, their schedule to close out the season will help give them the opportunity to do so. Of their remaining 18 games, just eight come against teams that are currently in a playoff position.
The Flames’ 18 remaining games this season will come against the Colorado Avalanche, Golden Knights, Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals, Vancouver Canucks (two), Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, LA Kings (two), Anaheim Ducks (two), Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks (two), and Arizona Coyotes. They have played those teams a combined 25 times this season, putting together a 13-10-2 record.
Vegas Schedule Could Prove Difficult
The Golden Knights’ schedule, on paper, is ever so slightly weaker, as seven of the 18 games they have left will come against teams currently in a playoff position. Those games will come against the Seattle Kraken (two), Flames, New Jersey Devils, Lightning, Columbus Blue Jackets, Blues, Nashville Predators, Jets, Minnesota Wild (two), Canucks (two), Coyotes, Oilers, Avalanche, Blackhawks, and Ducks.
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The Golden Knights have played the teams above 28 times this season, with a rather subpar 12-11-5 record. With their record having fallen substantially in the new year, there is a good chance that the record against the teams mentioned would be even worse had all those games come at more recent dates.
Last season, the Jets captured the final wild-card position in the Western Conference, finishing with 95 points. If the Flames were to pick up 13 wins over their final 18-game stretch, that would give them 93, while two overtime/shootout losses would push the total to 95. As for Vegas, they would need 10 wins over their final stretch to reach 95, which they could very well fail to do given their struggles in recent months.
Flames Need to Focus on Themselves
While the odds are not at all in their favour, the Flames do still have an opportunity to pull this off. In order to do so, they will need to block out what other teams are doing and take a one-game-at-a-time approach. Winning roughly 13 of their remaining 18 is a tough ask, though they have racked up six wins over their last nine contests. Should they recover from this rough two-game stretch and the Golden Knights continue to stumble, it could end up being a very interesting race to close out the season.