Honestly, the opponent doesn’t matter. Not anymore. Read More
Honestly, the opponent doesn’t matter. Not anymore. If anyone had glanced at the Calgary Flames’ remaining schedule a few days ago, they probably would have picked out Sunday’s matchup with the San Jose Sharks as they easiest game they had left in the chase for a playoff spot. The Sharks are in last place, after
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Honestly, the opponent doesn’t matter. Not anymore.
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If anyone had glanced at the Calgary Flames’ remaining schedule a few days ago, they probably would have picked out Sunday’s matchup with the San Jose Sharks as they easiest game they had left in the chase for a playoff spot.
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The Sharks are in last place, after all, and the Flames have beaten them in their three previous meetings this seasons.
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But none of that is really all that relevant. With three regular-season games remaining on their schedule, the Flames need to beat the lowly Sharks on Sunday, the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday and Los Angeles on Thursday. The finale could mean a lot for both teams with the Kings currently looking to maintain second place in the division ahead of Edmonton and secure home-ice advantage against the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs.
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“We take care of what we can control and that’s our game, as well,” said Flames winger Blake Coleman. “We feel like when we’re at our best and we’re playing the way we need to play and we know we can play, we’re not too concerned about who is on the other side.
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“That’s just the way this league works. Anybody can beat anybody on a given night and if you don’t bring your A-game, you’re generally going to pay for it.”
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Forget any talk about trap games. When the stakes are as high as they are for the Flames right now, trap games don’t exist.
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And while the Sharks may be at the very end of a rough season, beating them is not a given.
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While the Flames are 3-0 against the Sharks this season, the last two have been one-goal games — including a 3-2 decision this past week in San Jose. The Sharks also pushed the Wild hard on Wednesday night, falling 8-7 in an overtime thriller.
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They haven’t just thrown in the towel, and even if they had, with the Flames unable to afford even a single dropped point in their last three games, there’s too much on the line Sunday for anyone to be giving anything less than 100%.
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“San Jose has a team that’s very dangerous right now,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “With the young players they have, they’re a very skilled group. The message we always have for our players is (the focus is always) on what we have to do.
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“Your opponent is for the coaches to game-plan for and present to our players differently on, but basically keep it the same so there’s nothing different for our guys. They understand that they have to play a certain way and we’re going to need to do that tomorrow night.”