Scoreboard Watching – March 20th

 

 

 

It hasn’t been a good weekend for the idle Flames. All of their direct rivals for the final playoff spot have been collecting points, pushing Calgary down to the 10th in the conference as a result. More bad news: the Flames have still played more games than everyone except the Canucks, Sharks and Coyotes, all of whom are all basically out of reach.

– The Nashville Predators beat the Red Wings last night to vault ahead of the Flames. They have 84 points to Calgary’s 83 and one game in had. They’re facing the Buffalo Sabres tonight. Both clubs are currently battling for the final spot in their respective conferences and both played last night. Should be a pretty even battle.

– The Blackhawks will face the suddenly red hot Phoenix Coyotes this evening (five wins in a row). Chicago put up a stinker against the Stars recently and are only a single point ahead of Calgary in the standings (with two games in hand). Despite the standings, Chicago is the better team so I wouldn’t be surprised if they win tonight. That said, Flames fans should be cheering for the desert dogs.

– Finally, we have the incredibly important contest between Calgary and Anaheim. The Ducks won in OT last night over the Kings, putting them in 9th in the conference. They also have two games in hand on Calgary, meaning the Flames will have to do everything in their power to win this one in regulation.