Mapping the Calgary Flames’ path to the playoffs: Four contests to score a spot on the dancefloor

The Calgary Flames find themselves in the middle of the Western Conference Wild Card race. With just a few games remaining in the regular season, The Win Column will be mapping out the current playoff picture and assessing how the Flames would be able to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs over the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets.

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What’s happened since

The Calgary Flames four game win streak came to an end last night after a 4–3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. That dropped their record to 0–2–1 against Chicago this season, which simply could be the difference between making the playoffs and not. Pretty embarrassing effort this late in the season.

The Nashville Predators, coming off a lopsided loss to the Dallas Stars, put up an incredible effort against the Pacific Division leading Vegas Golden Knights to earn two points. The 3–2 overtime victory keeps them in the hunt.

The Winnipeg Jets were not in action on Monday or Tuesday, but kickstart their week into full gear tonight.

Remaining schedules

87 Points	89 Points	86 Points
@ WIN	vs CGY	vs CAR
@ VAN	vs NSH	@ WIN
vs NSH	vs SJ	@ CGY
vs SJ	@ MIN	vs MIN
	@ COL	vs COL

The Flames and Jets clash tonight, which should be the biggest game of either team’s season. The winner of this game will get the massive edge in the wild card race. If Winnipeg wins, it could spell the end of both the Flames and Predators season.

Outside of that game, the Flames have a matchup against the Canucks, while the Predators host the Carolina Hurricanes and visit the Jets later in the week.

Calgary’s path to the playoffs

Our predictions took a bit of a turn after last night’s contests, here is the best option should the Flames beat the Jets tonight:

@ VAN	2	vs DET	2	vs STL	2
vs ANA	2	vs NJ	2	@ DAL	0
vs CHI	0	vs CGY	0	vs VGK	2
@ WIN	2	vs NSH	2	vs CAR	2
@ VAN	2	vs SJ	2	@ WIN	0
vs NSH	1	@ MIN	0	@ CGY	2
vs SJ	2	@ COL	0	vs MIN	1
				vs COL	1
CGY POINTS	94	WIN POINTS	93	NSH POINTS	92

If the Flames beat the Jets, they would have to go 3–1–0 or better to finish the season to put themselves in a comfortable position. Comfortable is subjective of course when considering that the Jets would have to go 2–2–0 to make the playoff dream stay alive. One more point on the Jets side and they would sneak in due to the ROW tiebreak.

The Predators helped themselves with a win, but still would need to bank a lot more points to pass both teams. It’s still doable for them too.

Now let’s look at the darker route should the Flames not beat the Jets in regulation tonight:

@ VAN	2	vs DET	2	vs STL	2
vs ANA	2	vs NJ	2	@ DAL	0
vs CHI	0	vs CGY	2	vs VGK	2
@ WIN	0	vs NSH	0	vs CAR	1
@ VAN	2	vs SJ	0	@ WIN	2
vs NSH	2	@ MIN	1	@ CGY	0
vs SJ	2	@ COL	0	vs MIN	2
				vs COL	1
CGY POINTS	93	WIN POINTS	92	NSH POINTS	92

Say the Flames lose in regulation, they would need a miracle to make the playoffs. The Jets would have to earn only one point over their final four games and the Flames would need to win out. Pretty much requiring all the puck luck in the whole world at that point in time.

Now say the Flames secure a single point, would that make much of a difference?

@ VAN	2	vs DET	2	vs STL	2
vs ANA	2	vs NJ	2	@ DAL	0
vs CHI	0	vs CGY	2	vs VGK	2
@ WIN	1	vs NSH	1	vs CAR	1
@ VAN	2	vs SJ	0	@ WIN	2
vs NSH	2	@ MIN	1	@ CGY	0
vs SJ	2	@ COL	0	vs MIN	2
				vs COL	1
CGY POINTS	94	WIN POINTS	93	NSH POINTS	92

Bottom line, not really. It would allow for the Jets to earn either an additional single point or one regulation win, but with regulation losses making up the rest of the schedule.

Plain and simple, the Flames need a regulation win.

What’s up next in the schedule

The Flames and Jets will do battle tonight. Prepare for a bloodbath.

The Predators host the red hot Hurricanes, who they did beat earlier in the season 5–3.

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Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire