The Calgary Flames have been flirting with a return to the playoffs for a bit, but as the standings sit right now, it looks like they’ll be back in sooner rather than later. They sit a point better than the Predators in the first wild card position, nine points better than the Los Angeles Kings. Barring a collapse down the stretch, Brian Elliott may be leading another team with solid playoff performances.
Speaking of Elliott, Moose has shaken off the early season yips. He’s 4-1 in his last five games. Not to be outdone, Jake Allen is also 4-1 in his last five. More impressively, he’s led the Blues to a 9-1 record over their last ten games. Granted many of those teams have not been playoff caliber, but some have been, and Allen has been more confident over the month of March than he has been at nearly any other point this season.
The Flames are the first team in playoff position that the Blues have played since their 4-1 victory over the Pacific leading Sharks. They’ll be without Paul Stastny again tonight, but the line-up adjustments made by Yeo that saw Steen moved to center and Sanford moved up to the second line seemed to work. Faceoff percentage suffered, but the team’s overall performance against the Canucks did not.
Here’s hoping they’ll pull off another win tonight against a different Pacific Division opponent who has better fortunes this season. The Flames and Blues are fairly even in the standings; this won’t be an easy victory for either team.
Tonight’s puck drop is a little earlier than usual, at 6:00. Plan your Game Time purchases accordingly.