The 2020 Playoff Chase: eight weeks to go
By Ryan Pike
4 years agoThere’s just eight weeks to go until the end of the 2019-20 regular season. With roughly 24 games remaining on the docket, the @Calgary Flames’ playoff hopes can be summarized as follows: they’re in the mix.
Let’s see where the Flames slot in and who’s chasing them in our weekly check-in.
The Pacific Division
| GP | Pct. | Pts | Reg W | ROW | This weekend | |
| Canucks (P1) | 58 | .595 | 69 | 25 | 29 | 2/16 vs ANA |
| Oilers (P2) | 56 | .589 | 66 | 26 | 28 | 2/13 at TBL, 2/15 at FLA, 2/16 at CAR |
| Golden Knights (P3) | 58 | .552 | 64 | 22 | 25 | 2/13 vs STL, 2/15 vs NYI |
| Flames (WC1) | 58 | .552 | 64 | 19 | 23 | 2/13 at ANA, 2/15 vs CHI |
| Coyotes | 59 | .542 | 64 | 21 | 23 | 2/13 at OTT, 2/15 vs WSH |
| Ducks | 56 | .473 | 53 | 16 | 18 | 2/13 vs CGY, 2/16 at VAN |
| Sharks | 56 | .464 | 52 | 18 | 22 | 2/14 at WPG, 2/15 at MIN |
| Kings | 58 | .388 | 45 | 14 | 20 | 2/15 at COL |
Notable Central teams
| GP | Pct. | Pts | Reg W | ROW | This weekend | |
| Jets (WC2) | 58 | .543 | 63 | 22 | 26 | 2/14 vs SJS |
| Wild | 55 | .536 | 59 | 21 | 24 | 2/13 vs NYR, 2/15 vs SJS |
| Predators | 56 | .536 | 60 | 24 | 26 | 2/13 vs NYI, 2/15 at STL, 2/16 vs STL |
| Blackhawks | 56 | .509 | 58 | 18 | 22 | 2/15 at CGY, 2/16 at WPG |
The tiebreakers are, in order:
- Points percentage.
- Regulation wins.
- Regulation and overtime wins (ROW).
- Wins of any kind.
- Points earned in head-to-head games between tied teams. (If they’ve played an uneven amount of games head-to-head, the first “extra” home game is thrown out.)
- Goal differential.
- Goals for.
Typically-speaking, it’s rare that tiebreakers go further than a couple levels down. But the “regulation wins” distinction is new this season, and the idea is to de-emphasize the shootout.
The race
Once more, we’re looking at points percentage because every team has played a weird number of games and it’s difficult to make apples-to-apples comparisons otherwise.
As with last week’s check-in, the Blues, Stars and Avalanche are locked into the Central’s divisional spots.
In the Pacific, currently @Vancouver Canucks and @Edmonton Oilers seem to be in good shape. Beyond there, Vegas holds down the final divisional spot – the Flames are tied in points but lose out on tiebreakers.
The wildcard spots are Calgary and Winnipeg, but Arizona is hot on their heels – though sliding, with just two wins in their last 10 outings. Nashville and Minnesota are further back and need to go on a bit of a hot streak to catch the pack.
The Flames are still in a tenuous position, but they play three games against teams well below them over the next several days – Chicago once and Anaheim twice – which could allow them to make their lives easier going forward. The challenging thing for the Flames is the low number of regulation wins they currently have – they’ll likely lose out to any team they tie with in points based on that tiebreaker, so it’s incumbent on them to finish ahead of everybody and find ways to earn points by hook or crook.
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