CALGARY — With a raucous Saddledome crowd on its feet late in the Calgary Flames’ most important game of the year, it was hard to tell what raised the decibel level higher:
Ryan Lomberg’s breakaway goal, or the subsequent pulling of Filip Gustavsson so the soon-to-be-retired Marc-Andre Fleury could mop up one last time.
“I like to think, myself,” beamed Lomberg, admitting he too wondered if it was the unexpected appearance of the Hall of Famer goalie that had fans equally as excited.
“That did come to mind though, for sure.
“But I’m going to keep that one.”
Lomberg’s goal put the Flames up 4-0 on Minnesota in a do-or-done game they held on to win 4-2 to climb within three points of the Wild and Blues for the West’s final playoff spot.
A loss would have eliminated any chance of catching the Wild.
With three games left, and a game in hand on both clubs, the Flames odds are still long.
But on Friday night they took care of the only thing they could, bouncing back from a late collapse in Anaheim two nights earlier to play one of their most complete games of the year.
“It says a lot,” said Lomberg, of his squad’s character. “But having said that, it only matters if we keep it going.”
They’ll get that chance Sunday at home against San Jose, but not before watching the Blues and Wild in separate tilts late Saturday.
“You could tell right from warmups the crowd was into it,” said Dustin Wolf of an atmosphere the Flames thrived in from the start.
“I thought we played with desperation. This is a time of year we can’t lose games and this was obviously a critical four-point swing. We found a way to score four goals, and we’ve been pretty successful when we do that.”
Mikael Backlund banged in a rebound late in the first to get the scoring going, before Yegor Sharangovich pieced together an end-to-end beauty that finished with him tipping home a Martin Pospisil shot early in the second.
With the crowd still buzzing, Nazem Kadri tied his career-high with his 32nd goal of the year minutes later, scoring with the man advantage, while Jonathan Huberdeau provided a perfect screen.
The leadership group that had spent the morning talking about rising to the occasion and starting well did exactly that. Outshooting the Wild 32-18 and controlling all but the final four minutes of the game, the Flames continue to show they still believe the playoffs are a possibility.
“It’s been our recipe all year, resilience,” said Backlund, who played one of his best games of the season, which included winning a key draw on a 5-on-3 penalty kill while up 3-0.
“We find ways to come back in games or the next game.
“We wanted to play our best game of the year tonight and we didn’t sit back.”
The Flames dictated the pace, were undaunted by the stage and rose to their latest in a series of challenges few figured they could keep passing.
“The M.O. for us right now is we’re not going away,” said Ryan Huska, who started Wolf for the 51st time, tying Mike Vernon’s franchise record for rookies.
“The point we’re at, we need some help. We need some teams to do us some favours, but we also need to understand that our next game becomes our biggest game.”
Savouring a special night would only last so long, and they knew it.
For the fans, who’ve enjoyed this unexpected playoff push the last two months, the Lomberg goal was the cherry on top of a memorable night.
The man they call Lombergini felt the same way.
Even being stopped by Fleury late was a thrill.
“Pretty cool, he two-pad stacked me at the end — I’m probably the last guy of his career he did that to,” said Lomberg, who jokingly figured he’s worthy of being tapped for the 12th or 13th round of future shootouts.
“I told him, ‘nice save.’ I grew up watching that guy win Stanley Cups and gold medals. So just to be able to share the ice with him towards the end of the road was pretty special.”
Tune in Sunday on Sportsnet to see just how much longer the Flames can extend their road.
