CALGARY — At first glance, it would appear the only thing standing between the Calgary Flames and a playoff spot are the Winnipeg Jets.
Untrue.
The Nashville Predators present a significant roadblock on the Flames’ path to grabbing the last postseason berth in the west.
Not only do the Flames need to beat Nashville in Calgary on Monday to stay in the race with the Jets, but it’s also a chance to bounce the Predators from the playoff picture once and for all.
The Preds sit two points behind the Flames and still have an outside shot at passing both Calgary and Winnipeg, making the red-hot squad a highly motivated bunch.
Problem for Calgary is they have yet to solve the Predators this season.
The Flames have lost both meetings this year, including a January loss in Music City that prompted Nikita Zadorov to sound off on their outing.
“It was a pathetic effort by us, the first two periods for sure,” said the Flames defenceman following the 2-1 setback that wrapped up a lengthy, and otherwise successful, road swing.
“We were a step behind, the energy wasn’t there, the commitment wasn’t there, we weren’t shooting, we were making bad plays and were giving up too many chances.”
Their previous meeting came in early November when Nashville left Calgary with a 4-1 win.
Several things have changed since those two meetings – the Predators became sellers at the trade deadline and have been decimated down the stretch by injuries to top players.
Yet somehow, on the back of goalie Juuse Saros and their age-old defensive style, the Predators have surged in the final month of the season to stay in contention.
Nashville has been getting it done of late despite being without Filip Forsberg, Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen and Roman Josi.
Summing up just how surprising their run has been is the fact that Milwaukee call-up Tommy Novak has been their leading scorer since Christmas, with 41 points in 48 games.
Unlike the Flames, the Predators thrive in one-goal games, winning 22 of them to sit amongst league leaders.
No team has lost more one-goal games than the 29 the Flames have squandered, putting the advantage squarely in the hands of the visitors if Monday’s showdown is a tight, low-scoring affair.
Entering the game at a 5-1-1 clip in their last seven, the Flames’ shootout loss in Vancouver Saturday has them one point back of Winnipeg with two must-win games left on their docket.
The Jets have three games left, including a hosting gig against San Jose Monday that should finish right around the time the puck will drop in Calgary.
If the Jets can snag three of the possible six points up for grabs, there’s nothing the Flames or Preds can do to catch them.
Suffice it to say there’s no margin for error left for the Flames or the Preds, who also have three games left.
A Jets win and Flames loss ends Calgary’s playoff race.
Hope for Flames fans lies in the fact both Nashville and Winnipeg play their last two games against conference juggernauts Minnesota and Colorado who are battling for tops in their division.
But first things first – the Flames need to beat the Predators.
NOTES: The Calgary chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) has nominated Mikael Backlund for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, for the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. He recently became just the third player to play 900 regular season games with the Flames, as part of a season in which the 34-year-old leader in the dressing room and the community has put up career-best offensive numbers.
