With a 3-1 victory in Washington against the Capitals on Tuesday night, the Calgary Flames hopped one point ahead the Vancouver Canucks into the 2nd wild card spot in the Western Conference. That’s 64 points to 63. Both Pacific Division rivals have played 57 games.
While the Canucks will face a challenge on Wednesday night in Los Angeles against the Kings, the Flames are just starting an Eastern Conference gauntlet. Next up for Calgary: the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, and then a stop on the way home against the Dallas Stars.
The Canucks can hope the challenge for Calgary works in Vancouver’s favour. Then again, the Flames are operating with a great deal of confidence. The Capitals loss at home was their first since November 23rd against the New Jersey Devils. That was a home winning streak of 25 games.
Vancouver could retake the 2nd wild card spot with any form of victory on Wednesday, and get to within four points of 3rd-place LA in the Pacific Division with a regulation win. The Colorado Avalanche occupy the 1st wild card spot with 68 points.
Thus the see-saw nature of the stretch drive officially begins. The simple issue: which team will have the intestinal fortitude and collective desire to suck-it-up and get the job done over the coming weeks.
Vancouver faces the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night, visits the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, and then returns to BC for seven of the next eight games at home. They’ll likely need to make the most of playing in the great atmosphere at Rogers Arena.
The one road game during that stretch: at the Calgary Flames on March 12th.
Alexander Ovechkin scored a goal against the Flames, the 883rd of his NHL career. He’s 11 behind Wayne Gretzky to tie for the most regular season goals all-time.
