The Calgary Flames entered Thursday with eight games left on the schedule for the 2024-25 regular season. All but one are against divisional opponents. Half of them are against teams currently sitting in playoff positions.

So while there are no gimmes in the National Hockey League, Thursday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks was a game that the Flames both needed to win and would reasonably be expected to win given each team’s placement in the standings. But this also shaped up, on paper, like a potential “trap game,” with the Flames coming back home after playing three games in four nights on the road and capturing three points in the process (going 1-1-1).

Well, the good news is, the Flames got the result they needed. The better news is that they got the result they needed while being the better team for much of the contest. The Flames never trailed in this game. Nazem Kadri scored 16 seconds into the festivities, and the Flames managed to reel in their game in the second period after playing a bit loose early on. They ended up winning by a 4-1 score.

“We got to take care of home ice,” said Kadri. “I mean, that’s just how it’s going to be. And we’re prepared to do that. So, of course, I don’t think there’s a question on whether we’re losing hope or not. So, you know, we’re believing. And I feel like we’ve played some great hockey over the last handful of games. And maybe some days haven’t gotten the result we wanted. So it was nice to get the two points tonight.”

The Flames have played some eventful games recently. We’ve seen them require some pretty dramatic efforts in third periods in recent victories. Heck, each of their last five wins have involved some sort of wacky comeback.

On Thursday night, the final 20 minutes were pretty pedestrian, with the only major question being whether Blake Coleman could complete a hat trick.

“It was a quiet third period, which is nice, so we’ll take that,” said head coach Ryan Huska. “The first period, there’s parts that we didn’t like. I thought we traded chances, and that’s not the way we have success. Second period, I thought we got our game back after a good penalty kill. For the rest of the way, we were pretty happy with how we played.”

“I mean honestly it was maybe a little bit too loose in the first, trading chances,” said Coleman. “They got a lot of skill and that’s the game they want to play. But we’ve got guys that can play it and can make plays and I thought guys were confident with pucks. And offensively I thought we played a really good game and had a lot of good looks. And hopefully we can keep growing that confidence to make those little plays like that.”

The Flames now have seven games remaining on the schedule. They have four games left against playoff teams – Vegas twice, Minnesota and Los Angeles – and three against non-playoff teams – San Jose twice and Anaheim. As the final stretch looms, Thursday’s game was the type of effort they needed to get things started off on the right foot.

“It was a good game,” said Coleman. “It was a game we needed. We need them all. So, you know, I think guys showed up, played well. It was a good home game. You know, we got to turn the page here pretty quick, but can build off that game, especially the second and third. I thought we really took over and I thought up and down the lineup, it was pretty solid.”

The Flames (84 points) are five points behind Minnesota (89 points) for the final Western Conference wild card spot, with the Flames holding a game in hand. Nine points earned by the Wild or potential points not earned by the Flames eliminates Calgary from playoff contention. 18 points earned by the Flames or potential points not earned by the Wild clinches Calgary a playoff spot.

The Flames are not completely in control of their own destiny, but all they can do is take care of their business and hope that their games continue to be meaningful in the Western Conference playoff picture.

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