After a brief trip home to face the struggling Ottawa Senators, the Flames head down to the desert for a pair of tilts
On the surface, the Calgary Flames remain in the thick of the wild-card playoff fight.
As the maddeningly inconsistent Flames (17-18-5, 39 points) head into Tuesday’s home clash with the Ottawa Senators — Game 41 of the campaign — they are only two points outside a playoff position.
However, to move into a playoff position, there are four teams (the Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Seattle Kraken and Arizona Coyotes) to vault, and all of those squads have at least one game in hand. Four games in hand in Edmonton’s case.
That’s the first dose of reality for the Flames.
The second: Consecutive afternoon-game losses on the weekend, including a inexcusable 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Rockford IceHogs Chicago Blackhawks, without Connor Bedard and half of their lineup, the Flames took a massive step backward.
Can the Flames take a step forward or have they shown exactly who they are as we reach the midpoint of the season?
President of hockey operations Don Maloney said during an intermission interview on Sunday the team will use the all-star break as a milestone for assessing their situation.
Well, that is nine games away and here is a look at the trio of tilts before the Flames return to the Stampede City for a six-game homestand that takes us to the all-star break.
Tuesday: Versus Ottawa Senators (14-21-0, 28 points)
Speaking of bottom-feeding teams, Calgary opens the week against the Eastern Conference’s last-place Senators, who continue to stumble and bumble.
The Senators are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Oilers on Saturday, which has them spiralling even further down — remember, this is a team that fired its head coach last month.
Ottawa has lost four of five, including the first three outings in a five-game road trip, and managed only three victories in its last 13 games.
Hopes were high this was the season to end their six-year run without a playoff berth. Instead, this is a squad that is headed for a lottery pick.
Calgary lost the first of their two meetings 4-1 in Ottawa in mid-November.
Thursday: At Arizona Coyotes (19-17-2, 40 points)
Speaking of lengthy droughts, the Coyotes are in the hunt to end their run of futility — which dates back to 2012 if you don’t count the Covid-season with its qualifying round.
The Coyotes have lost three straight games — all at home — since the calendar flipped, with the Boston Bruins coming to town on Tuesday before Calgary arrives to end their homestand.
If they stay in the hunt, the Desert Dogs may have reached the point where they try adding pieces at the deadline to get over the hump. They certainly have a wealth of second- and third-round picks built up over the next three drafts to use when wheeling and dealing.
This is the first of two meetings between Calgary and Arizona in a six-day span.
Saturday: At Vegas Golden Knights (23-12-5, 51 points)
The reigning Stanley Cup champions handed the New York Islanders a 5-2 thumping on Saturday. That’s no surprise.
The shocker is how that ended a two-game losing streak and stretch in which the Golden Knights lost six of seven outings, all in regulation time.
The clubs have split the first two of four clashes, both in extra time, with the Flames winning 2-1 at home and losing 5-4 in Las Vegas last month.
Trips to the City of Lost Wages have not been kind to the Flames. Calgary has lost nine of 10 all-time games on the The Strip.