With nearly half a dozen team nipping at their heels in the standings, the Flames need to take advantage of the bottom-feeding Blues tonight.
Colorado is a measley one point back of Calgary for the NW division lead, while Vancouver is 2 points back and Edmonton 3. Anaheim's overtime victory over the Av's last night also puts them 2 points back of Calgary, with both San Jose and LA on the outside looking in with 79 points each (5 points back).
Yes, it's a veritable cluster-eff. The good news for the Flames is they have games in hand on Colorado (2), Vancouver (2), Los Angeles (2) and Edmonton (1). The other POTENTIAL good news is that the Flames next two contests are against the aforementioned St. Louis Blues as well as another basement dweller, the Columbus Blue Jackets. Both of whom have been out of the play-offs for awhile and are simply playing out the stretch.
The other, other good news is that the Blues have come back down to earth and have lost 4 straight (outscored 18-5). Part of the blame probably lies with the losses of stand-out goaltender Curtis Sanford and former Calder trophy winning defenseman Barrett Jackman (not to mention the trading of Weight, Sillinger, Weinrich). The Blues now have precious little depth up-front, on defense and in net, and have very little motivation to continue to put forth 100% every night...
...but, of course, the Flames can't take this game, or their opponents, lightly. The bad news for Calgary is that they have played pretty poorly themselves recently. A stretch of 1 win in 4 games, which included their worst loss in 2 seasons, means that Calgary can ill-afford to lack any drive or focus tonight (or for the rest of the season, no doubt). Their recent ineffectual play has moved this "should-win" game into "must-win" territory...
Here's hoping the boys bear down tonight and move ever closer to clinching a playoff berth. The faster they get to 96 points, the better.
