Flames Visual Recap 82: Calgary finishes third in Western Conference with setback to Jets

The Calgary Flames went into their regular season finale with very little to play for. The only thing that could be impacted was whether they’d finish second, third, or fourth in the Western Conference. If they win, they lock in second; if they lose, they turn to the out-of-town scoreboard to determine their fate.

First period

Just minutes into the first period, Matthew Tkachuk took the puck away from Brenden Dillon and off he went on a breakaway. Tkachuk’s shot was slowed down by Connor Hellebuyck, but had enough forward momentum to go into the net for the game’s first goal.

The first period saw the Flames put up 18 shots with one goal to show for it. The Jets had 12 shots that included several coming on an extended two-man advantage but they were unable to solve Daniel Vladar in net until the final minute. With just 13 seconds remaining, Winnipeg tied the game with Blake Wheeler potting a one-timer.

The Flames had a couple of power play opportunities of their own but were unable to score on them.

Second period

The second period saw the Flames uncharacteristically outplayed. In a period pretty much dominated by Winnipeg, the Flames ceded one goal to Mason Appleton and went into the third period trailing by one.

There was a stretch of play where the Jets had a flurry of shot attempts whereas Calgary was contained to virtually nothing. If anything, Vladar needs to be credited for keeping the Flames in the game as the players in front of him didn’t do much to help out.

Third period

The third period wasn’t much better for Calgary. Not a lot of pressure was seen and their chances were negligible throughout the final frame. They were unable to generate much and continued to be outplayed by the Jets.

The Flames ended up pulling Vladar for the extra attacker but were instead scored on with Brenden Dillon’s defensive zone dump going right into the open net.

Calgary ended up dropping their final game by a final score of 3–1.

The Minnesota Wild picked up a win over the Colorado Avalanche, while the St. Louis Blues lost to the Vegas Golden Knights. This result leads to the Flames finishing third overall in the Western Conference with a total of 111 points.

Their final record is 50–21–11, making them one of just three teams in the West to reach the 50-win mark. Now onto the playoffs.

At the time of writing, the Nashville Predators are currently up 4–0 against the Arizona Coyotes. If they maintain their lead for the win, they will end up being the Flames’ first round opponent.

Data visualisations from the season finale are below!