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The 2017 Playoff Chase: Resurgence
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Ryan Pike
Feb 24, 2017, 16:00 ESTUpdated: Invalid DateTime
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Welcome to the seventh week of our Western Conference playoff race coverage. A week ago, the Calgary Flames were very much on the outside looking in (and hoping that they got some help). Well, they did pretty well this week in their own games and got some help from basically everyone that played the Los Angeles Kings.
Let’s check out the race as we begin the weekend!

WHERE THEY STAND

Team
GP
W
Pts
Pct
ROW
Div
Chances
% Change
Wild
59
39
84
.712
36
CEN
100%
none
Blackhawks
61
38
81
.664
36
CEN
100%
none
Sharks
60
35
77
.642
33
PAC
100%
up 0.1%
Oilers
61
33
74
.607
29
PAC
99.8%
up 0.3%
Ducks
62
32
74
.597
30
PAC
98.3%
down 0.3%
Blues
60
31
67
.558
30
CEN
92.2%
down 4.8%
Predators
60
29
67
.558
27
CEN
82.9%
up 3.0%
Flames
61
31
66
.541
28
PAC
62.2%
up 24.4%
Kings
60
29
62
.517
28
PAC
52.4%
down 27.5%
Jets
63
28
62
.492
26
CEN
10.0%
up 6.2%
Canucks
60
26
58
.483
22
PAC
1.9%
down 0.7%
Stars
60
23
56
.467
23
CEN
1.4%
up 0.5%
Coyotes
59
21
49
.415
16
PAC
0.0%
none
Avalanche
59
16
35
.297
16
PAC
0.0%
none
(Chances courtesy Sports Club Stats.)
The Flames head into the weekend eighth in points and in points percentage. Any way you slice it, they’re defending a playoff spot right now.
The Blues have slid back into the pack a bit. As it stands, three of the Flames, Predators, Kings and Blues will make it. Nashville and St. Louis have a bit of a benefit by virtue of being in the Central Division; they’re chasing a divisional spot and the two wildcard spots simultaneously, while the Flames and Kings are way, way back of the last Pacific Division spot.
Man, the Kings crashed this week. The Flames gained a ton of ground, ending up ahead of the Kings in points, points percentage and playoff probability. Their game next week could potentially squash Los Angeles’ playoff hopes for this season.
If the playoffs began today, the Flames would be playing Minnesota.

THIS PAST WEEK

The Flames played three road games over the past seven days. They got the loser point in overtime in Vancouver, then beat Nashville in overtime and Tampa Bay in regulation. Five of a possible six points is a rock-solid week by any measure.

THIS COMING WEEK

The Flames play three more games between now and next Friday, and this week also includes the trade deadline. They play in Florida on Friday, in Carolina on Sunday and then are back home against Los Angeles on Tuesday.
As for the teams the Flames are chasing?
  • St. Louis (one game in hand, one point up) plays against Chicago and Edmonton.
  • Nashville (one game in hand, one point up) plays against Washington, Edmonton, Buffalo and Montreal.
  • Los Angeles (one game in hand, four points back) plays Anaheim, Minnesota, Calgary and Toronto.

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