The playoff hopes may have been crushed on the out of town scoreboard, but the Calgary Flames did not let that stop them from earning a 5-4 shootout victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.

It’s a Team Game – In classic Flames fashion the boys had to face a little adversity before finding their game. They started on time unlike Monday against the Sharks, but Vegas is a better-quality team. That level of intensity needed to stay up all game. It was a rough end to the first period with Hertl getting the last-minute goal – things were looking bleak. At the first intermission the Blues wee blowing out Utah, but the Ducks were going toe-to-toe with Minnesota. The second period once again saw Calgary start good- but right around the time Minnesota scored to clinch their playoff berth the air in the building – the energy diving everyone – lightened up for a bit. When the second intermission hit the Flames had every excuse to pack it in and quit – the fact they came out for the third swinging for the fences earns them nothing but gratitude and respect. That may have been the only game some kid may go to in his childhood and they made sure too not let life get in the way of providing a good product for their fans. Respect.

Corsi King – Yegor Sharangovich (64.19 CF%) is back to being a force on a nightly basis. Did a certain goal spark him back to life? Is he getting healthy finally? Did someone buy him some motivational LEGO sets? These are the real questions. No matter the reason it’s translating to an improved neutral zone transition, more possessive zone entries and as a result more open shooting chances. Glad it re-surfaced at the end of the year, but it can’t really disappear for that stretch again – he’s a crucial finisher they need to have scoring goals for them. Morgan Frost (63.81 per cent) is becoming familiar with his skating patterns – this is further developing some quality chemistry.

Taken By Chance – I love the attitude, and I love the swagger, but Rasmus Andersson (39.91 SCF% || 34.51 HDCF%) needs to figure out a way to improve his shot suppression ability. He is a warrior who will gladly block any shot without complaint – there’s no denying that – but the ability to prevent the shots from occurring in the first place is superior (in my opinion) to that of defaulting into a blocking mentality. It’s got him burned in his own zone far too often this season and provides even more work for Dustin Wolf to overcome. He’s certainly limited the dollar figure on an extension with how things went this year. No blaming it on his partner either, because Kevin Bahl (45.46 per cent || 44.43 per cent) has been way better than anyone expected him to be coming in.

xGF% – When the going gets tough Nazem Kadri (59.93%) goes even harder. The willpower of this man to make an impact every single time it was needed this season did not go unnoticed. Things did not really pick up for him until late December this year – next season if they could get him going by Halloween that would be much more beneficial. Adam Klapka (57.78 per cent) has earned himself a one-way ticket to staying in the show the past month. He elevated his game to the point it would not make sense to ever put him back on the fourth line. Putting him with more skilled linemates is becoming a nightly benefit to the team.

In The Crease – Dustin Wolf is the team MVP. I don’t know if he plays Thursday but he’s one win away from tying the franchise record for rookie goaltending wins with 30. A total W/L record of 29-16-8 and he only ever got pulled ONCE. Pairing that with an all situations save percentage of .910 – Kelly Hrudey said Wolf was the best Flames goalie since Kiprusoff and I see no evidence to suggest that’s a bad comparison. The Calder trophy should be his in my biased opinion, but the Vezina better look out in future seasons because Wolf is only going to get better.