Happy Easter Monday. Here’s hoping you haven’t filled up on chocolate. There’s still a Flames game to take in.
Today’s game will be the 46-20-9 Calgary Flames facing off against the 25-39-11 Chicago Blackhawks. 101 points on the season for the former and 61 points for the latter.
While the Flames possess a firm lead on the Oilers for first in the division, playoff matchups are still up in the air. Take a look at the Western Conference wildcard race pertaining to the Pacific Division.
Vegas is getting closer to being eliminated, but they very much could still squeak in. If they win their next game against the Devils (very doable), they will trail by a single point with five games to go. The Golden Knights have went 4-2-1 since the beginning of April. In that same span the LA Kings have gone 3-4-0. Vegas could certainly get it done.
The Golden Knights fate could very well be sealed in their final game. An April 29 match against the St. Louis Blues. Two rosters with a history.
Gotta love this time of the season.
Then there is the Flames’ potential matchup. Barring a major skid by either team, it’s the Nashville Predators or Dallas Stars.
The Nashville Predators Flames fans have bitter memories of their six game round one series loss to Dallas. It’s probably not unfair to say most fans would prefer Nashville. The two teams face each other twice in the next 15 days including a game tomorrow evening.
In their single game against each other this season, Matt Duchene scored in overtime to seal a 3-2 victory over the Flames on November 2, 2021. Jusse Saros was first star of the game making 38 saves on 40 shots.
Pardon the fear mongering, but imagine the series if Saros went down. A potentially career defining redemption arc for David Rittich.
The 29 year old hasn’t had very good stats since injuries started defining his career. Since the night of his infamous stick flip — after sealing a 4-3 shootout win over the Oilers with a poke check save on Leon Draisatl — Rittich has struggled. In 43 appearances he has a .891 save percentage and a 3.25 GAA.
It very likely won’t happen, but imagine the storyline if he broke out against his former team. Oh, man.
The Dallas Stars Speaking of redemption arcs, who here doesn’t think the Flames have some payback to deliver up the Dallas Stars? The team owned by hospitality mogul Tom Gagliardi went on to the Stanley Cup Finals after disposing of Calgary in six games. The series featured a dirty double hit to Tkachuk by 6’7… 250lb Jamie Oleksiak and 6’2… 210lb Jamie Benn. Tkachuk didn’t look like himself for much if the next season after that hit.
After taking a 2-1 lead in the series, the Flames lost three straight to end their playoff run in six games.
The Chicago Blackhawks Apologies. Today’s game is yet to be played and as Head Coach Darryl Sutter says “The most important game of the season is the next one.…
The Blackhawks aren’t in a good way of late. 1-7-2 in their last ten. 3-7-2 since the trade deadline. 29th in the league over that time span.
Not a lot going well for them. Worse is that they traded their first round pick this year as part of the package for Seth Jones. The pick is lottery protected, but the Blackhawks still have better odds of not winning into the top three.
With an aging core and a talent-loaded 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Hawks fans might even be hoping they only have to give up a pick in the 5-10 spot this July. They could potentially miss out on Connor Bedard.
Next year Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews play the final year of their contracts. They very likely will be dealt. Hard to imagine the Blackhawks do much better in the standings without Patrick Kane in the lineup.
The Calgary Flames The Flames are coming off a decisive 9-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes. The first period ended with a 1-0 lead for Arizona and the Calgary Flames seemed to take that personally. Four goals in the first three and a half minutes of the second period.
Two of those four scored by Dillon Dubé — a forward struggling to find the level of play he achieved two years ago. Dubé had three goals in the first three games against Dallas in 2020. He was a major reason the Flames took a 2-1 lead in the series.
Despite the Flames stomping the Coyotes in such a dominant fashion — it seems like the team still has a ways to go to get to the level they were playing at in the first half of the season. Tonight will be another tune-up against a borderline practice squad.
In chronological order the Flames finish the season against the Coyotes, Predators, Stars, Canucks, Predators, Wild, and Jets. Lots of good teams and four point games. Lots of time to right the ship.
Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk Mangiapane-Backlund-Toffoli Dube-Jarnkrok-Coleman Lucic-Ruzicka-Lewis
Hanifin-Andersson Kylington-Tanev Zadorov-Gudbranson
Puck drop at around 6:08pm mst.
Trevor Neufeld
Lineup courtesy of Derek Wills @Fan960Wills. Standings and stats courtesy of nhl.com. @Trevor_Neufeld