The Calgary Flames certainly garnered some more positive feelings on Friday night when they were able to down the Chicago Blackhawks, and Keep pace with the Western Conference playoff race. That being said, it was just one game and although it was against one of the better teams in the West, the points aren't any more valuable than they would have been against any other club and a quick look at the standings shows that despite their great game on Friday, they still find themselves on the outside looking in with 54 points to sit in 11th spot. Their 54 points leaves them 4 points in arrears of a playoff spot at this time and with 3 teams ahead of them in the fight for 8th and the Coyotes tied with them it's certainly going to be a tough go indeed.
According to
SportsClubStats.com the Flames playoff chances right now sit at 20.28%, or roughly 1 in 5, which is pretty ironic considering that right now the Yotes, Flames, Avs, Stars, and Wild essentially all appear to be fighting for that single 8th spot. Of course things could change and the landscape isn't completely set with the trade deadlin and possible injuries to skew things, but right now the 1 in 5 scenario certainly seems a pretty accurate way to describe the post-season chances of all these clubs.
The Flames will go on the road tonight in Anaheim to try to enhance their playoff chances as they face a team that, although in 14th place in the West, has been much better since Bruce Boudreau took over behind the bench and the teams enter the match with Calgary going 6-3-1 in their last ten and the Ducks at 6-2-2 over the same number of games, so technically the Ducks are actually the hotter team over that stretch.
The Flames have certainly struggled on the road this season to which their 10-14-4 record can attest, but if they want to remain in the playoff race to any extent, they're going to have to find a way to translate their home play into other buildings. The way the team has performed lately at home by playing tight games and limiting the other team's chances should translate well into opponents buildings as long as they can continue that style. If they can, they should be able to post a better record away from the dome the rest of the way.
They certainly played that way in their first meeting with the Ducks as Blair Jones notched the only goal in a 1-0 Flames win in Calgary on January 12th. It should be noted that the Ducks have also struggled on the road and are likely quite happy that tonight's game will be in Anaheim where the Ducks are currently a .500 team at 13-13-2 as opposed to their tough road mark of 6-11-6.
Ducks have won 7 of the last 9 meetings vs the Flames and have earned points in 23 of the last 25 games between the two clubs (20-2-3). Most disconcerting for Flames fans will be the fact that the Ducks are currently riding a 13 game home winning streak against Calgary. Flames fans are hoping their team can end that run tonight.
Although as shown above Calgary has struggled on the road this season, they have played very well as of late compiling a 2-0-0-1 record with two of the last three going to a shootout. Although shootout wins are nice. It would be even better to get regulation wins since they count in tie-breaker situations and also don't end up in a 3 point night.
The Flames last win in Anaheim was January 19, 2004. Although Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff were Flames at the time, there is no-one playing tonight who participated in that game as neither Flame played in the contest and not a single player on Anaheim's roster was with the Duck's at the time.
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