Wild Card Race (Western Conference)

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Robbob

A LA loss tonight would be a thing of beauty. Come on Rangers. Anyone know if Quick is playing back to back?

I'd be shocked if he isn't... but not yet confirmed who is starting.

[sec304]

Originally Posted by Robbob

A LA loss tonight would be a thing of beauty. Come on Rangers. Anyone know if Quick is playing back to back?

According to The Score, Jones is expected to play.

It sure would be nice for the Rangers to win in regulation tonight and put LA at requiring a 6-3 finish to get to 96 points

[IamNotKenKing]

Last Ten Games:

Vancouver: 6-3-1 - 13 points
Calgary: 6-2-2 - 14 points
Minnesota: 7-3-0 - 14 points
Winnipeg: 7-3-0 - 14 points
Los Angeles: 6-2-2 - 14 points

Goodness gracious!

[White Out 403]

97 or 98 may be needed this year. No one is losing it seems.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

97 or 98 may be needed this year. No one is losing it seems.

I think the Leafs/Buffalo and Edmonton/Arizona are doing all the losing for the other 26 teams.

At least we're not in the old conference setup anymore, imagine how many points the Canadiens, Bruins and Sens would have in the NE division with both Eastern plugs in their div and a billion games against them.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by CgyFlamesftw

Everyone says we have an easy schedule. I just don't see it if anything its gonna be tough with only edmonton and Arizona remaining on the year.

We *had* an easy schedule. Five of our last six games were against non-playoff teams. 3-1-1 isn't bad, but that blown point against Columbus may be huge.

Now our schedule has flipped to almost insanely hard. A hot Dallas team twice (but hopefully one that will fade since they should realize they are pretty much done), Minnesota, Winnipeg, LA and even an Edmonton team that will want to play spoiler. The only truly easy game we have left is Arizona, and it is late enough that it may not matter either way.

The Kings next four games will probably make or break it. We need the Rangers and Islanders to play them as tough as they played us, then we need Minnesota and Chicago to play strong. And I don't have much faith in the Hawks given the way they tend to lose against playoff bubble teams.

[polak]

I felt great about the Flames chances this morning. Then I read this last page...

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

This 5 game road trip coming up is really tough....

@ Minnesota - hottest team in the West since Jan
@ Nashville - struggling, but 27-7-2 at home
@ Dallas - 8-2 in their last 10
@ St. Louis - They own our a$$es
@ Edmonton - even they might be up for this one in a spoiler role

The game tomorrow is vital.

If the Flames win, the Stars are 8 back with 8 to play, and probably eliminated before we get to Dallas next week.

But if Dallas wins, they are only 4 back, and next week is HUGE for them.

[Dr. Doom]

Originally Posted by polak

I felt great about the Flames chances this morning. Then I read this last page...

Yeah... I'm damn nervous about that Minny game in particular.

Seems like they always stick it to us at the end of the year.

[Flamescat]

Just run Dubnyk.. problem solved.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

97 or 98 may be needed this year. No one is losing it seems.

Too many head to heads left. Of the five teams we are tracking, every one has 3 or 4 games left against another team in the race.

So from a Calgary perspective, for instance, our magic number to finish ahead of Winnipeg (assuming we win the tiebreaker) is 10 and ahead of Vancouver is 11.5. But since the Jets and Canucks play twice, we are guaranteed to shave at least one point total off of those (if both are three-point games), and up to two points if both games end in regulation.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The game tomorrow is vital.

If the Flames win, the Stars are 8 back with 8 to play, and probably eliminated before we get to Dallas next week.

But if Dallas wins, they are only 4 back, and next week is HUGE for them.

Dallas is not in our division so catching the Flames probably won't matter. They are chasing the Jets and Wild. They are 8 points back of the Jets. They might not know it but they're already done.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

Last Ten Games:

Vancouver: 6-3-1 - 13 points
Calgary: 6-2-2 - 14 points
Minnesota: 7-3-0 - 14 points
Winnipeg: 7-3-0 - 14 points
Los Angeles: 6-2-2 - 14 points

Goodness gracious!

that is absolutely crazy

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The game tomorrow is vital.

If the Flames win, the Stars are 8 back with 8 to play, and probably eliminated before we get to Dallas next week.

But if Dallas wins, they are only 4 back, and next week is HUGE for them.

Dallas would be only four back of us, but we are irrelevant to them. They are eight back of the closest playoff spot they can catch (Winnipeg), and a win still leaves them six out, depending on how tonight goes.

But yes, the game tomorrow is vital. A 2-2-1 homestand right now could tip us right out of it. 3-1-1 is critical.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Dr. Doom

Yeah... I'm damn nervous about that Minny game in particular.

Seems like they always stick it to us at the end of the year.

Minny hosts the Flames Friday and the Kings Saturday. It is probably reasonable to assume that they play their starter against the Kings (all the teams are more afraid of the Kings than the Flames).

We don't have to beat Minny, all we have to do is do as well against the Wild as the Kings do. Two losses, no problem. Two loser points, fine. Two wins, great.

But the Kings are behind us, and have to actually catch us. Keeping it even benefits the Flames at the expense of the Kings.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

We *had* an easy schedule. Five of our last six games were against non-playoff teams. 3-1-1 isn't bad, but that blown point against Columbus may be huge.

Now our schedule has flipped to almost insanely hard. A hot Dallas team twice (but hopefully one that will fade since they should realize they are pretty much done), Minnesota, Winnipeg, LA and even an Edmonton team that will want to play spoiler. The only truly easy game we have left is Arizona, and it is late enough that it may not matter either way.

The Kings next four games will probably make or break it. We need the Rangers and Islanders to play them as tough as they played us, then we need Minnesota and Chicago to play strong. And I don't have much faith in the Hawks given the way they tend to lose against playoff bubble teams.

nothing is easy, the BJ's had won six road games in a row and just spanked Vancouver...their place in the standings has more to do with injuries early in the year they are a good team.

[heep223]

96 points with the tie break will make the playoffs. IMO.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Minny hosts the Flames Friday and the Kings Saturday. It is probably reasonable to assume that they play their starter against the Kings (all the teams are more afraid of the Kings than the Flames).

Dubnyk has started something like 28 in a row. Expect him to start both games - and be fresh against us but tired for LA.

[Murph]

For all the talk of the Flames having "crucial" and "must-win" games, the Kings game tonight against the Rangers is as close as it gets to must win for them.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Fire

Dallas is not in our division so catching the Flames probably won't matter. They are chasing the Jets and Wild. They are 8 points back of the Jets. They might not know it but they're already done.

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Dallas would be only four back of us, but we are irrelevant to them. They are eight back of the closest playoff spot they can catch (Winnipeg), and a win still leaves them six out, depending on how tonight goes.

But yes, the game tomorrow is vital. A 2-2-1 homestand right now could tip us right out of it. 3-1-1 is critical.

The fact that they aren't in our division doesn't really matter.

1) things could change and the Flames could become the 8th wild card seed.

2) (more relevant) if the Flames beat them tomorrow, their playoff chances pretty much die, which helps the situation next week. If the Stars win, they remain alive and thus still desperate next week