Heading into the final six games of the 2024-25 regular season, the Calgary Flames remain alive and kicking in the Western Conference playoff race.

However, they have a lot of work to do, and they’ll need some help to achieve their goal of playing past Game 82.

As of Monday morning, here’s the state of the race:

The Flames have 85 points through 76 games, and have six games remaining. If they win their remaining games, they can finish the regular season with 97 points.

The Minnesota Wild have 91 points through 78 games, and have four games remaining. If they win their remaining games, they can finish with 99 points.

If the two teams finish the regular season tied in points, the team that qualifies for the Stanley Cup playoffs will be determined by tiebreakers. The tiebreakers are, in order:

Even if the Flames win the remainder of their games, they won’t be able to clinch any tiebreakers. In other words, they need to finish with more points than Minnesota does. So, how can they do that?

The Flames have six games remaining: two games with San Jose, and one each against Anaheim, Minnesota, Vegas and Los Angeles. The Wild have four games remaining: one each against San Jose, Calgary, Vancouver and Anaheim.

The Flames’ magic number – the combination of points they earn and potential points Minnesota doesn’t – is 15 points. Their tragic number – the combination of points Minnesota earns and potential points the Flames don’t – is 6 points.

If the Flames win all of their remaining games, they get to 97 points. The Wild can win twice, which would get them to 95 points. If the Wild win more than twice, or the Flames fail to win out, then things get dicey. And if the Flames lose twice – those games against Vegas and Los Angeles, battling for the division lead, could be really tough – then they would top out at 93 points, and the Wild would have to lose their four remaining games.

It’s still possible for the Flames to make the playoffs. But a lot needs to go right for them, and they’ll need some help.