Seven point cushion, six games to play.
The above fact dampens somewhat the importance and urgency that may have been factors in tonights contest had the Flames lost the last game (and the Avs won theirs). As it stands now, any combination of Colorado losses and Calgary gains totaling 6 ensures a post-season appearance for the Flames. The Avs final 6 contests are all against play-off teams (Wild, Flames, Canucks, Preds, Flames) besides their date with the hapless Coyotes this evening. The Flames have a similar schedule (Wild, Canucks, Avs, Oilers, Sharks, Avs) in terms of difficulty, with the only soft spot being the Oilers (or, the shattered husk of the Edmonton Oilers, at least).
While it's certainly not implausible that the fight could come down to that final match between the two squads, it certainly is improbable. Consider that over the last month, the Avs have gone 9-1-2 (far and away their best series of the season) and have managed to make up about 3 points on the Flames to this point. To have any kind of realistic chance at all, Colorado will no doubt have to run the table to finish the year. And, while they've been pretty good of late, I wouldn't want to bet on that goaltending duo for any extended period.
No, the Avs are all but done. And thank God. Prior to this most recent 5 game winning streak, things were starting to look grim in Flames land. A 10 point cushion had dwindled down to 4, the road record was putrid, everyone associated with the team looked frustrated and an ugly stretch of formidable opponents was staring them in the face. Straight razors and coils of rope were being hastily prepared by the most fervet fans should the Flames fall from grace prove inexorable. A lynch mob of bloggers and media alike were brandishing pitchforks and torches, gathering in the gloom of the regular season's dusk, preparing to dispatch Playfair the Mad Scientist . Yup, things were getting ugly.
Funny what an unlikely 5 game win streak can do.
I, for one, however, am not wholly satisfied with the latest results, although I'm admittedly relieved. It's great that Calgary has proven they can at least sometimes:
A.) Win on the road and,
B.) Win close games.
BUT - the Flames still haven't convinced me they have shaken their issues and are the elite team they technically should be when one considers their roster. They've won a lot of coin-flips over the last couple games, largely on the back of good to great goaltending (the Chicago game is perhaps an exception to this - I thought the score flattered the Hawks). Besides that, and some yeoman work from the bottom lines, the Flames have been fairly mediocre. Their last victory by more than 1 goal came against the Blues (4-2 W) 23 days and 11 games ago. In the last 7 games, Calgary has scored more than 2 goals only once, against Chicago (3-2 W). Over the last 10, the Flames have given up 318 shots against (31.8 mean) and managed only 269 (26.9 mean), for a differential of 49 shots. The GD over the same 10 game span is (24 GF - 29 GA) an uninspiring -5.
Beyond perhaps the resurgent play of Miikka Kiprusoff and the fending off of the Colorado Avalanche, there hasn't been a lot to be excited about recently. I still see way too many give-aways in the defensive and neutral zones for my liking. And, as mentioned, the Flames 5on5 play, which was an undisputed strength for the club back in November through January, has been shrug-worthy or worse in March. Only a determined Kristian Huselius and a continually improving PP have kept the Flames from Columbus Blue Jacket like levels of offensive impotence this month. Jarome Iginla and Craig Conroy have struggled to find consistency (particularly the former), Lombardi has been relegated to 4th line duty, Langkow has cooled off and Tony Amonte has been an absolute anchor on the 2nd unit in relief of the injured David Moss.
My point here is, the Flames haven't improved all that much over the lackluster play that punctuated their previous losing streak. Miikka has stepped things up and Calgary's getting a few more bounces, but that's about it. What's especially distressing, I think, is the disappearance of the Captain at such a critical juncture of the season (2 shots on net - none in regulation time - 0 hits in 22 minutes of play last game). Assuming, of course, he isn't playing through some debilitating injury, it makes me wonder how Jarome could be so, completely..."meh" during a fierce struggle for a play-off spot. At times, he's looked about as interested in playing hockey as Oilers fans are in watching it these days. At others, he's looked like a guy who knows he should be fired up and motivated, but can't quite bring himself to believe it.
It's impossible to pinpoint the cause of these problems, of course, but it's fairly obvious to me that Iggy is struggling, for one reason or another. And in order for the Flames to start scoring decisive victories, now and in the post-season, they're going to need him to re-discover the form he showed back in the first half of the year. A strong PP is nice, but I was far more comfortable with the Flames when they were the best ES team in the league. Now that Miikka and the defensive game seem to be coming back around (right?), the Flames just need the big guns to start scoring again. When - or if - they do, I'll take a bit more pleasure in the winning streaks.
