A Calgary Flames playoff appearance is possible, but not very likely

On Saturday night, the Calgary Flames’ playoff hopes took a pretty substantial hit. Early in the evening, the Winnipeg Jets beat the Nashville Predators in regulation. And in the late game, the Flames lost to the Vancouver Canucks in a shootout.

After Saturday’s results, a Flames playoff appearance is mathematically possible, but some very specific outcomes need to line up for it to happen.

So here’s the situation as Monday’s games approach:

Because Winnipeg has clinched the tiebreaker, the Flames would need to finish with one more point than the Jets in order to clinch a playoff spot.

The Flames’ magic number to clinch the playoffs is four games (or eight points) won by the Flames or not won by the Jets. So the Flames clinch with two wins and two Winnipeg regulation losses, or one win and three Winnipeg regulation losses.

That’s it. Those are the two possible scenarios.

The Flames play Nashville on Monday and San Jose on Wednesday. The Jets play San Jose on Monday, Minnesota on Tuesday and Colorado on Thursday.

The Flames’ tragic number for playoff elimination is 1.5 games (or three points) won by the Jets or not won by the Flames. So if Winnipeg gets a win (of any kind) and an overtime or shootout loss, and earn three points, then the Flames are eliminated regardless of what they do in their own games.

So if you’re Team Playoffs, you’re hoping for a San Jose win over Winnipeg and Flames win over Nashville on Monday. Considering the relative position of the Sharks compared to the Jets in the standings, that may be a tall order.

Regardless, the Flames need to take care of their own business and hope they get some help on the out-of-town scoreboard.