All but one team in the Western Conference wild card race won on Saturday.
Each of the four teams was in action on Saturday, with all but one team picking up a victory. The four teams we’ll be looking at in this article are the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, and the Utah Hockey Club.
This is the wild card recap, where we look at how the three other teams battling the Flames fared for the final wild card the night before. The wild card recap will replace What’s Going On In The Pacific Division, at least until next season. This article will come after the busy days in the league, so on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Let’s take a look at what happened on Saturday evening!

The Flames score an overtime winner

There’s no quit in the Calgary Flames. On Saturday, they finished up their road trip with a game against the New York Islanders, defeating them 4-3 in overtime.
Just 36 seconds into the game, Matt Coronato scored his 19th of the season to open the scoring. Midway through the first, Bo Horvat tied the game, followed by a late goal from Marc Gatcomb to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
The only second period goal came from Coronato, who hit the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career. Moreover, he scored four goals on the four-game road trip. With 2:51 left in the game, Kyle MacLean gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead.
However, the Flames fired right back 29 seconds later, as Jonathan Huberdeau tipped in a shot from Rasmus Andersson to tie the game at three. In overtime, Nazem Kadri scored the game-winner for the Flames’ third straight victory.
The Flames return to action on Tuesday, as they return home to host the Seattle Kraken at 7:00 p.m. MT.

The Canucks lose in an exciting third period

Coming into Saturday’s slate of games, the Vancouver Canucks sat one point ahead of the Flames with an extra game played. On Saturday, they played an incredibly exciting game against the New York Rangers, falling 5-3 to drop below the Flames.
In the first period, Dakota Joshua opened the scoring midway through the frame. Flame draftee Adam Fox scored his sixth of the season midway through the second period to send the game to the third tied 1-1.
Early in the third period, Jonny Brodzinski scored to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Midway through the final frame, Drew O’Connor tied the game, kicking off a wild second half to the third period. K’Andre Miller scored a goal off a deflection a minute and 18 seconds later to restore the Rangers lead.
However, that only lasted two and a half minutes as Brock Boeser tied up the game with 4:50 left. Thankfully, Brodzinski scored his second of the game just 37 seconds later, with former Canuck J.T. Miller icing the game with an empty net goal.
The Canucks return to action on Monday, as they continue their road trip with a game against the New Jersey Devils. Afterwards, they will play three more road games before returning home on Apr. 2.

The Blues defeat the Blackhawks

The St. Louis Blues entered Saturday’s game in the final wild card and nothing changed as they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1.
Robert Thomas opened the scoring with just under five minutes left in the period, followed by Alexey Toropchenko’s goal just over two minutes later. The first period scoring didn’t stop there though, as Ilya Mikheyev scored a short-handed goal with a minute left in the period.
It was all the Blues from there though, as Nathan Walker scored an early goal in the third period. Zack Bolduc iced the game 7:43 into the third period to make it a 4-1 game.
The Blues are back in action on Sunday afternoon, as they host the Nashville Predators at 4:00 PM MT. They’ll also play on Tuesday as they host the Montréal Canadiens at 6:00 p.m. MT.

The Hockey Club wins in a high-scoring game

Like the Flames and Blues, the Utah Hockey Club picked up a win on Saturday, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-4.
Thanks to goals from Josh Doan and Logan Cooley, the Hockey Club jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but it didn’t last long. With a minute and 11 seconds left in the first period, Brayden Point scored his 33rd goal on the power play. Just over five minutes into the second, Anthony Cirelli scored to tie the game at two.
The tied game didn’t last long either, as Alexander Kerfoot scored less than a minute later to give the Hockey Club a 3-2 lead. With under three minutes left in the second, Jake Guentzel scored to tie the game at three but the Hockey Club scored 30 seconds later as Cooley scored his second of the game.
Early in the third period, Nick Schmaltz scored an insurance goal to take a 5-3 lead, which turned out to be the game-winner. Point scored his second of the game to make it 5-4. Kerfoot scored his second of the game with a short-handed empty net goal, the second in as many games.
The Hockey Club returns to action on Monday, as they host the Detroit Red Wings at 7:00 p.m. MT.

How the standings look

Let’s take a look at the standings as of Sunday afternoon (before the St. Louis Blues game).
The Blues have a chance to extend their lead for the final wild card as they have a 36-28-7 record with 79 points. On the outside looking in are the Calgary Flames, who have a 33-25-11 record with 77 points. However, the Flames have played two fewer games than the Blues and it’ll be three when the Blues wrap up their game on Sunday.
Behind the Flames are the Vancouver Canucks, who have a 32-26-12 record with 76 points but they’ve also played an additional game relative to the Flames.  Lastly, the Utah Hockey Club has a 32-27-11 record with 75 points.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

This article is a presentation of HNA Calgary

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