The Calgary Flames did exactly what they were supposed to do. Read More
The Calgary Flames did exactly what they were supposed to do. It’s all they can do, really. Just win as many games as possible and hope the Minnesota Wild slip-up. With the state of the playoff race being what it is at the moment, it means the Flames can’t afford a bad night against a
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The Calgary Flames did exactly what they were supposed to do.
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It’s all they can do, really. Just win as many games as possible and hope the Minnesota Wild slip-up.
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With the state of the playoff race being what it is at the moment, it means the Flames can’t afford a bad night against a team like the Anaheim Ducks.
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So it’s to their credit that the Flames largely dominated the Ducks on Thursday, cruising to a 4-1 win and pulling to within five points of the Wild.
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“It was a good game. It was a game we needed,” said Flames winger Blake Coleman, who scored twice against the Ducks. “I think guys showed up and played well and it was a good home game. We’ve got to turn the page here pretty quick, but we can build off that game.”
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It was one of those nights where the only thing that mattered was securing two points. The clock is ticking for these Flames and the margin for error is, for all intents and purposes, zero.
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They’ve got a game-in-hand and have a head-to-head shot against the Wild on April 11. Win both, and they’re only facing a one-point deficit – as long as they win the rest of them, too.
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And that’s why their cool, calm and collected performance against the Ducks matters. Nazem Kadri scored 16 seconds in and while the Flames weren’t thrilled with the rest of their first period after Olen Zellweger tied things up.
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But they dominated the final 40 minutes and locked-down a desperately-needed victory.
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All the advanced analytics and expert breakdowns of strengths and weaknesses are less important than the simple fact that it’s wins and losses that count in the end and it’s the points the Flames accumulate in the standings between now and April 17 that will determine their playoff fate.
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On Thursday, they did what they needed to do. For the final seven games, they’ve just got to do it again and again and again.
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Here’s three takeaways from Thursday’s game:
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- A PERFECT START
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Kadri started the night by putting everyone at ease.
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You can imagine Thursday night’s game going another way, right? The Flames playing cautiously to avoid giving anything up and anxiety building minute-by-minute.
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Instead, Kadri burst down the wing and fired a rocket past Ducks shot-stopper John Gibson just 16 seconds into the game.
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“The net must look like a soccer net to him right now, because everything’s going in,” Coleman said.
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Kadri’s been on an absolute tear since the Four Nations Face-Off, scoring 12 goals and adding seven assists in 20 games.
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On a big night with a tonne of pressure on his team, it was somehow completely unsurprising that he provided an immediate spark before most of the fans in the Saddledome had even funnelled in from the concourses.
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“More nights than not, he’s driving people into the game,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “For us to get off to a good start, scoring a nice goal like that, great for us, great to get the building involved and it was a great moment in the game.”