<p>The Calgary Flames will begin their four game eastern road trip on Monday in an unfamiliar position: outside of a playoff spot.</p>
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<p>Through 159 days of the 2024-25 season, the Flames have spent 103 of them in a playoff spot. But by virtue of the Vancouver Canucks&#8217; win over Chicago on Saturday evening, they&#8217;ve broken the standings tie between themselves and the Flames – and they sit two points up for the final Western Conference playoff spot.</p>
<p>As the Flames hop on a plane and head east on Sunday, here&#8217;s a snapshot of the state of the race as the Flames begin yet another pivotal road trip.</p>
<h2>The race, at a glance</h2>
<p>After points, the tiebreakers in the standings are games played (fewer ranked first), followed by regulation wins, regulation and overtime wins, and then wins. (After that it gets complicated and messy, and relies on head-to-head performance.)</p>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Team</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Points</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Games</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">RegW</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">ROW</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Wins</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Canucks</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">73</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">66</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">24</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">29</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">31</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Flames</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">71</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">65</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">24</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">27</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">30</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Blues</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">71</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">67</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">23</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">28</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Utah HC</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">69</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">66</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">21</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">28</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">29</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2>The upcoming week</h2>
<p><strong>Sunday</strong></p>
<p>Both the Blues and Canucks complete back-to-back sets that they began on Saturday. At 6 p.m. MT, the Blues host the Ducks. (The game was pushed back a couple hours because the Blues had travel delays getting out of Minnesota on Saturday.) At 7 p.m. MT, the Canucks host Utah.</p>
<p>The best scenario for the Flames in Vancouver/Utah is a Utah regulation win.</p>
<p><strong>Monday</strong></p>
<p>On Monday, the Flames begin their road trip in Toronto with a 5:30 p.m. MT start.</p>
<p><strong>Tuesday</strong></p>
<p>All four teams in the Western playoff race play on Tuesday:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Flames visit the New York Rangers at 5 p.m. MT.</li>
<li>The Blues visit Nashville at 6 p.m. MT.</li>
<li>Utah visits the Oilers at 7 p.m. MT.</li>
<li>The Canucks host the Jets at 8 p.m. MT.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Wednesday</strong></p>
<p>No games.</p>
<p><strong>Thursday</strong></p>
<p>As with Tuesday, all four teams are playing:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Flames visit New Jersey at 5 p.m. MT.</li>
<li>The Blues host the Canucks at 5:30 p.m. MT.</li>
<li>Utah hosts Buffalo at 7 p.m. MT.</li>
</ul>
<p>The best scenario for the Flames in St. Louis/Vancouver is a St. Louis regulation win.</p>
<p><strong>Friday</strong></p>
<p>No games.</p>
<p><strong>Saturday</strong></p>
<p>Once again, a busy Saturday with all four teams active:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Canucks visit the Rangers at 11 a.m. MT.</li>
<li>The Blues host Chicago at 1 p.m. MT.</li>
<li>The Flames visit the Islanders at 2 p.m. MT.</li>
<li>Utah hosts Tampa Bay at 3 p.m. MT.</li>
</ul>
<p>It&#8217;s a fun scheduling quirk that the Canucks and Flames, battling for a playoff spot, both play in different boroughs of New York a few hours apart on Saturday. (It&#8217;s likely that the Flames will hit the ice for warm-up at UBS Arena at roughly the same time Vancouver&#8217;s game will be wrapping up.)</p>
<p>Are the Flames in great shape in the playoff race? Not really. Are they out of it entirely? Also not really. They&#8217;re very much in the thick of things, and their performances over their next four games will go a long way towards determining their fate.</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365:</strong></p>
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The Calgary Flames will begin their four game eastern road trip on Monday in an unfamiliar position: outside of a playoff spot.
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Through 159 days of the 2024-25 season, the Flames have spent 103 of them in a playoff spot. But by virtue of the Vancouver Canucks' win over Chicago on Saturday evening, they've broken the standings tie between themselves and the Flames – and they sit two points up for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

As the Flames hop on a plane and head east on Sunday, here's a snapshot of the state of the race as the Flames begin yet another pivotal road trip.
<h2>The race, at a glance</h2>
After points, the tiebreakers in the standings are games played (fewer ranked first), followed by regulation wins, regulation and overtime wins, and then wins. (After that it gets complicated and messy, and relies on head-to-head performance.)
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Team</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Points</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Games</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">RegW</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">ROW</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Wins</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Canucks</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">73</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">66</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">24</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">29</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">31</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Flames</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">71</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">65</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">24</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">27</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">30</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Blues</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">71</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">67</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">23</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">28</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">Utah HC</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">69</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">66</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">21</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">28</td>
<td style="width: 16.6667%;">29</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2>The upcoming week</h2>
<strong>Sunday</strong>

Both the Blues and Canucks complete back-to-back sets that they began on Saturday. At 6 p.m. MT, the Blues host the Ducks. (The game was pushed back a couple hours because the Blues had travel delays getting out of Minnesota on Saturday.) At 7 p.m. MT, the Canucks host Utah.

The best scenario for the Flames in Vancouver/Utah is a Utah regulation win.

<strong>Monday</strong>

On Monday, the Flames begin their road trip in Toronto with a 5:30 p.m. MT start.

<strong>Tuesday</strong>

All four teams in the Western playoff race play on Tuesday:
<ul>
 	<li>The Flames visit the New York Rangers at 5 p.m. MT.</li>
 	<li>The Blues visit Nashville at 6 p.m. MT.</li>
 	<li>Utah visits the Oilers at 7 p.m. MT.</li>
 	<li>The Canucks host the Jets at 8 p.m. MT.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Wednesday</strong>

No games.

<strong>Thursday</strong>

As with Tuesday, all four teams are playing:
<ul>
 	<li>The Flames visit New Jersey at 5 p.m. MT.</li>
 	<li>The Blues host the Canucks at 5:30 p.m. MT.</li>
 	<li>Utah hosts Buffalo at 7 p.m. MT.</li>
</ul>
The best scenario for the Flames in St. Louis/Vancouver is a St. Louis regulation win.

<strong>Friday</strong>

No games.

<strong>Saturday</strong>

Once again, a busy Saturday with all four teams active:
<ul>
 	<li>The Canucks visit the Rangers at 11 a.m. MT.</li>
 	<li>The Blues host Chicago at 1 p.m. MT.</li>
 	<li>The Flames visit the Islanders at 2 p.m. MT.</li>
 	<li>Utah hosts Tampa Bay at 3 p.m. MT.</li>
</ul>
It's a fun scheduling quirk that the Canucks and Flames, battling for a playoff spot, both play in different boroughs of New York a few hours apart on Saturday. (It's likely that the Flames will hit the ice for warm-up at UBS Arena at roughly the same time Vancouver's game will be wrapping up.)

Are the Flames in great shape in the playoff race? Not really. Are they out of it entirely? Also not really. They're very much in the thick of things, and their performances over their next four games will go a long way towards determining their fate.

<strong>Sponsored by bet365:</strong>
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Sizing up the Western wildcard race before the Flames’ eastern road trip

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