1 day Ago By Ian Buchanan, Last Word On Sports
As the 2024-2025 NHL regular season approaches its climax, the Calgary Flames find themselves in a precarious position, battling for a coveted playoff spot. Despite a recent surge in performance, the Flames face significant challenges, particularly from formidable opponents like the St. Louis Blues.
This article delves into Calgary’s current form, the impressive run of the Blues, and assesses the Flames’ prospects for postseason qualification. Flames’ Recent Strong Performance May Fall Short The Flames have demonstrated resilience in recent games, pushing to keep their playoff hopes alive. Notably, they won all three games against the New York area teams, including an exciting 4-3 overtime victory against the New York Islanders .
Nazem Kadri has reached a new level delivering back-to-back overtime winners against the Islanders and Seattle Kraken. This win highlighted the team’s ability to perform under pressure and against competitive opponents. Calgary looked to be playing their best hockey at the most important time.
However, the Flames have also faced setbacks. A recent 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers , where Leon Draisaitl scored his 51st goal of the season, underscores the thin margins that have defined Calgary’s season. Despite picking up one point in the loss, it feels so much worse as Calgary continues to lose ground in the playoff race.
St. Louis Blues’ Dominating Complicating Calgary’s playoff aspirations is the exceptional form of the St. Louis Blues.
The Blues have embarked on a remarkable nine-game winning streak, including a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche . Pavel Buchnevich ‘s decisive goal in the third period of that game exemplifies the clutch performances propelling St. Louis up the standings.
The Blues are getting solid goaltending from both their goalies, Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer . Pairing good goaltending with timely scoring, the Blues are winning when it counts most. This surge has solidified the Blues’ position in the playoff race, making it increasingly challenging for trailing teams like the Flames to catch up.
St. Louis’s consistent success means that Calgary must not only maintain a high level of play but also rely on potential missteps from the Blues—a scenario that appears increasingly unlikely given their current momentum. Calgary has games in hand on the Blues, however, every time the Blues win and Calgary fails to match, those games in hand become less valuable.
Playoff Odds and Path Forward for the Flames According to MoneyPuck, the Flames currently have a 17.2% chance of making the playoffs. Similarly, analyses from The Win Column indicate that, following a loss to the Dallas Stars , Calgary’s playoff odds have diminished, with various prediction models averaging the Flames playoff chances at around 18%.
This low number is beginning to feel insurmountable. To improve their postseason prospects, the Flames must find ways to win games by any means necessary. Calgary’s goaltending has been the key to their success this season, but with every game becoming even more important they need to be at their best.
It’s a big ask for rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf to be even better, and although backup Daniel Vladar has been great this season it wouldn’t be fair to expect more from him. The Flames goaltenders will need all the help they can get from Calgary’s defence. This means their top three MacKenzie Weegar , Rasmus Andersson , and Kevin Bahl will likely be pushed to their limits will playing time.
In addition to the Flames needing to play tight defensive hockey, Calgary will need to create more offence. As mentioned above Nazem Kadri has elevated his game to a new level, and rookie Matthew Coronato has been very strong as of late. Veteran Jonathan Huberdeau has had his best season in Calgary and continues to produce productively.
Unfortunately, Calgary has lost one of their most productive offensive pieces in Connor Zary . Zary suffered an injury on March 27th and could miss the rest of the season. Calgary will need some others to step up and in a hurry.
Fans will be hoping for more production from the newly acquired forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee to give this team a chance. Flames Playoff Race Worth Watching While the path to the playoffs is narrow and fraught with challenges, the unpredictable nature of hockey means that things can change quickly. The Flames’ recent performances have shown their potential to compete fiercely.
Calgary will need to translate this into consistent success over their remaining games. Calgary will need to hope that St. Louis cools off, and perhaps the Minnesota Wild will continue their slide so that they have a chance to make the playoffs.
No matter how this season ends, the Flames have put together an incredible season over-achieving expectations. Fans should be excited to watch this team compete for the few remaining games, regardless of the outcome. This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.
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