The Flames started January with a win, and ended January with a win. Unfortunately the middle 11 games were mostly awful, as Calgary had a 5-7-1 record for the month. The win tonight helped avoid the red snake touching the purple snake, and we all know the story of the purple snake does not end well.
After Tuesday's loss, the gap between the black line and the red snake was the largest of the season, 8.707 points. The red snake is currently on pace for 84 points. In order to reach 96 points, it needs 43 points in the remaining 30 games. That's a 1.433 PPG pace or a 21-8-1 record. Although the red snake just took the last four games off, the All-Star Break is now here, and the next game isn't until February 1st.
January's schedule was very friendly to Calgary. Although there is only one back to back set of games in February, is significantly tougher. 8 of the 12 games are on the road. 9 of the teams have a better winning (points) percentage than Calgary. Of the three teams Calgary will play that have a lower winning percentage than Calgary, two of them beat Calgary earlier this year. The other is the Coyotes.
February's schedule:
vs. Minnesota (32-11-5)
at New Jersey (20-21-9)
at NY Rangers (31-17-1)
at Pittsburgh (30-13-5)
vs. Arizona (16-26-6)
vs. Philadelphia (25-19-6)
at Vancouver (23-21-6)
at Nashville (24-17-8)
at Tampa Bay (22-22-6)
at Florida (21-19-10)
at Carolina (21-20-7)
vs. Los Angeles (24-21-4)
Based on the 1.433 PPG pace needed from above Calgary needs 17 points in the 12 February games, or a 8-3-1 record. If they achieve that, the red snake would be 4.927 points below the black line, 4 points below the green snake, and 14 points above the purple snake. It would take 10 more straight wins (11 overall) in order to get above the black line. It would take a 7-0-1 record to start February for the red snake to catch the green snake, and then a 6-1-1 record to keep pace with it after catching it. The red snake has some work to do.
