After a big comeback win on Saturday night following Miikka Kiprusoff‘s jersey retirement, the Calgary Flames have now won five games in a row. Before that, they had lost three in a row; before that, they had won four in row, and round and round we go. It’s why this team has developed the identity as perhaps the streakiest team in the NHL.
One week, we’re talking about tearing things down and building for the future; the next, we’re discussing the playoff race. This Flames team has regularly pulled the rug out from under fans time and time again as they continue to bounce between a team going for a lottery pick and a team in the playoff race. No team has experienced as many ups and downs like the Flames this year.
The Flames have been consistently streaky
It’s not just that the Flames feel like the streakiest and most inconsistent team in the league, but they factually are. Since December 1, the Flames have gone on more winning and losing runs than any other team in the entire NHL. Below is the total number of winning and losing streaks of three or more each team has experienced since December 1.
For this example, we’ll only be looking at streaks over three games. For example, a six-game winning streak would only count as one streak, not two. We’re looking at the flipping between winning and losing streaks here, not how long the streaks are.
| Team | 3+ losing streaks – Dec 1 | 3+ winning streaks – Dec 1 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Flames | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Minnesota Wild | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Florida Panthers | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Boston Bruins | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Dallas Stars | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Nashville Predators | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Washington Capitals | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| St. Louis Blues | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| New York Islanders | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Arizona Coyotes | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| San Jose Sharks | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Ottawa Senators | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Anaheim Ducks | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| New Jersey Devils | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| New York Rangers | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Yes, since December 1—a span of just over three months—the Flames have put together more streaks of three or more games than any team in the entire NHL, with eight different streaks. The next closest is the Minnesota Wild, with seven, and then a group of teams with six. In fact, since December 1, the Flames are currently tied for tops league-wide for winning streaks of three or more games with the Florida Panthers.
The problem is they’ve evened that out with three separate losing streaks of three or more games, which ranks tied for third in the NHL in that span. The only teams with more losing streaks in that span are the bottom-feeder Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and Montreal Canadiens, as well as the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins. Overall, the Flames and Wild are the only two teams in the league to feature in the top three for both winning and losing stretches since December 1.
Perhaps the wildest fact is that the Flames haven’t experienced a winning or losing stretch of less than two games dating all the way back to December 7. On that night, they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3–2 in a game that was sandwiched between a two-game losing streak and a four-game losing streak. Since then, they haven’t won or lost a game without it turning into a streak; it’s always been two or more in a row of either losses or wins.
Calgary is not gaining much ground
Due to the Flames’ incredible inconsistency this season, they’ve failed to gain much ground in the wild card race pretty much all year. Every time they start to inch closer to a playoff spot, they follow it up with a losing streak and fall back down the standings. Take a look at how many points they’ve been out of the playoffs each week, and you’ll notice a trend.
| Week ending date | Flames’ points | WC2 Points | Points back |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10/15/2023 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 10/22/2023 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 10/29/2023 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| 11/5/2023 | 7 | 11 | 4 |
| 11/12/2023 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| 11/19/2023 | 15 | 18 | 3 |
| 11/26/2023 | 19 | 21 | 2 |
| 12/3/2023 | 23 | 25 | 2 |
| 12/10/2023 | 25 | 28 | 3 |
| 12/17/2023 | 29 | 32 | 3 |
| 12/24/2023 | 33 | 36 | 3 |
| 12/31/2023 | 35 | 40 | 5 |
| 1/7/2024 | 39 | 41 | 2 |
| 1/14/2024 | 45 | 47 | 2 |
| 1/21/2024 | 47 | 51 | 4 |
| 1/28/2024 | 49 | 54 | 5 |
| 2/4/2024 | 49 | 54 | 5 |
| 2/11/2024 | 55 | 58 | 3 |
| 2/18/2024 | 55 | 60 | 5 |
| 2/25/2024 | 61 | 66 | 5 |
| 3/3/2024 | 65 | 72 | 7 |
This is just some impressive consistency right here. The Flames are consistently inconsistent if that makes any sense. So far this season, they’ve never ended a week ahead of the second wild card spot, and the only times they’ve even been in a wild card spot was the first two weeks of the season when they had only played a couple games.
After the week ending October 22, the Flames have been within two to five points of the second wild card spot at the end of every single week; they’ve never slipped out of that range. It’s truly incredible how committed this team has been to staying just on the cusp of the playoffs, no lower or higher. Dating back to January 28, the Flames have finished the week sitting five points out of the playoffs in five of six weeks despite posting a record of 8–3 over that span.
Case in point, after their previous losing streak of three games from February 12 to February 17, they sat five points out of a playoff spot. After winning five games in a row between February 19 and March 2, they now sit seven points out of a playoff spot. Despite their success, they’ve gained zero ground on a playoff spot and actually sit further from the playoffs.
For a better look at just how little ground the Flames have gained this season, here’s their point percentage at the end of each week so far this season.
Since right around December 1, the Flames have hovered directly around the .500 mark at an incredibly consistent rate. The lowest they’ve dropped since December 1 is .463 in January, and the highest they’ve reached is their current .542, due to their recent five-game winning streak. They just haven’t been able to consistently get above .500, and even when they do, they’re not winning consistently enough to gain any ground on the teams above them.
Team is going in circles
So far this season, the Flames are very much a team spinning their wheels and going nowhere. They’ve managed to match every strong stretch of games with a similarly weak stretch right after. It’s why they remain five points out of the playoffs and have made up almost no ground all season. Whether or not they can finally find some consistency to close out the season is still up for debate. If they don’t, they could be staring down yet another ninth-place finish.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
You must be logged in to post a comment.