Welcome to the Game Day Fire Drill, for this, Calgary’s 78th game of the season on April 2, 2010.

There’s nothing I can say about this game that everyone else on the planet hasn’t already said.

For all the "The Flames Are Dead Here’s Proof" pronouncements of which we have all been guilty in these last few weeks, we failed to count on the Avs’ ability to be a completely crap team when it mattered most. In doing so, they set up The Biggest Game of the Year By Far.

Win and you’re probably in. Lose and you’re done like dinner.

So I guess let’s go Flames? Yeah, sure.

 

The Calgary Flames (39-29-9 for 87 points. Ninth in the West, third in the Northwest) and the Colorado Avalanche (41-28-7 for 89 points. Eighth in the West, second in the Northwest).

7:30 p.m. Mountain time and 9:30 p.m. Eastern time. All other time zones should code a Wizard of Oz game for Nintendo.

Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado

Calgary is 19-13-6 on the road this year, and the only game it’s won in Colorado was the last one. The Avalanche are 23-12-2 at home, but haven’t won in regulation at home against a Western Conference opponent since March 6, and even then they only beat St. Louis.

Peter Mueller — He was struggling with the Coyotes, scoring only four goals and 17 points in 54 games. Not so much with the Avs, for whom he has netted seven goals and 10 assists in 13 games.

Chris Stewart — Five games against Calgary this year: two goals, three assists, five points. Yikes.

Paul Stastny — Another guy who has succeeded while his team has struggled. Stastny has six goals and 19 points in his last 15 games, which coincided with the end of the Olympic break. He had just 12 goals and 55 points before the Olympics began. (Of course he’s also a minus-7 in the last four games but that’s Anderson’s fault probably.)

Because Staios knows this is it! Enjoy the game and make a big deal out of it in the comments section.