The Calgary Flames and their slim playoff hopes have an opportunity to remain alive in the chase for the Stanley Cup playoffs when the last-place San Jose Sharks visit on Sunday.
The Flames (38-27-14, 90 points) need help to make a miracle happen, sitting a few points back of both Western Conference wild-card teams in the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues with three games remaining in the regular season.
However, a 4-2 home-ice victory over the Wild on Friday night provided a boost, both in the standings and in their psyche. Calgary was the dominant squad while staking a four-goal lead before a pair of late Minnesota goals made it a closer finish.
“I liked that we were going for it right away, we weren’t sitting back,” captain Mikael Backlund said. “We were hungry to win the game. We were an excited team coming out, something we talked about before the game.”
The Flames are hoping to become only the second team in NHL history to qualify for the playoffs despite facing a five-point deficit within their final four games. Only the 1958-59 Toronto Maple Leafs have achieved that feat.
Calgary remains a playoff long shot and requires favors when the Wild and Blues play on Saturday. The Flames, though, do not plan to give up hope.
“We still have to battle, we still have to win games,” goaltender Dustin Wolf said. “It doesn’t matter how we get in, we’re obviously gonna need some help from some outside sources, and obviously, we need to take control of our own game here the last three, and find a way to get them.”
The Flames will look to complete a sweep of the four-game season series against the Sharks. Calgary has won five consecutive clashes and 10 of 11 meetings.
The Sharks (20-48-11, 51 points), who sit last in the league, arrive in Calgary having lost eight consecutive games.
They suffered a 4-2 road loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, falling short in an outing that was tied 2-2 seven minutes into the third period.
“We got off to a slow start, but we got it going there and had good chances, good chances to tie it up so I give a lot of credit to our group. They continue to compete,” coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “They’re not looking at the record, they just want to compete and play for each other and that’s something we can tip our cap to.”
San Jose will likely finish at the bottom of the league for the second consecutive season, but the Sharks have taken a few steps forward. San Jose has collected more wins than in 2023-24, cut down their goals against and improved offensively.
They are also seeing huge strides from key young players down the stretch. Macklin Celebrini had a point streak snapped in Edmonton but went into the clash having collected three goals and six assists in the previous four games. In addition, Will Smith has netted five goals and three assists in a four-game run.
The Sharks are falling short in their games but have been pushing to play spoiler.
“We’ve been out of the playoffs for a while, but you can see right now, everyone is fighting for one another,” San Jose forward Alex Wennberg said. “(The Oilers), they have a lot to play for, but we’re digging in, we want to be a part of it and we want to give them a challenge.”
–Field Level Media
