The Calgary Flames lost ground after Thursday’s set of games.
Despite dominating one of the best teams in the league on Thursday evening, they were unable to defeat the Dallas Stars, while the St. Louis Blues won their eighth consecutive game. In this article, we’ll look at the Flames, Blues, Vancouver Canucks, and the Minnesota Wild. Moreover, we’ll say goodbye to the Utah Hockey Club, who has fallen out of the race.
This is the wild card recap, where we look at how the other teams battling the Flames for the final wild card spot fared the night before. The wild card recap will replace What’s Going On In The Pacific Division, at least until next season. This article comes after the busy delays in the league, on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Let’s take a look at what has happened since the last wild card recap!

Flames dominated the Stars but fell short

Coming into Thursday’s game against the Dallas Stars, the Calgary Flames were riding a four-game win streak, with three of those games coming thanks to a third period comeback.
The Stars opened the scoring seven minutes into the first period thanks to Roope Hintz’s goal. However, the Flames tied it up eight minutes into the second period thanks to Nazem Kadri’s 29th goal of the season. It was short-lived, though, as Wyatt Johnston scored just under five minutes later, followed by Mikael Granlund’s 19th goal of the season just over 90 seconds later.
That doesn’t mean the Flames didn’t try to claw back, as they’ve done all season. It took just 16 seconds for the Flames to come within one as Kadri scored his second of the game, but Mikko Rantanen scored an insurance marker to make it 4-2, with an empty net goal icing the game.
The score doesn’t tell the whole story, though, as the Stars on a back-to-back were outshot 48-19 by the Flames. It’s a moral victory, but the Flames don’t need moral victories this late in the season.
Up next for the Flames is the final Battle of Alberta showdown against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. The Oilers will come into the game having lost three of their last four in the absence of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Flames really need to beat the wounded team.

Canucks beat the Islanders 5-2

The night before, the Vancouver Canucks defeated the New York Islanders 5-2 to move ahead of the Flames.
Kiefer Sherwood opened the scoring early in the second period, but the Islanders answered back with two of their own to take a 2-1 lead with 11 minutes to go in the second period. It didn’t last. Former Islander Aatu Räty tied the game with about six minutes left in the second, and Derek Forbot scored with 23 seconds left in the middle frame.
A Teddy Blueger goal just over a minute into the third period gave the Canucks a 4-2 lead and Sherwood iced the game with his second goal of the game with an empty netter with just under two minutes to play.
The Canucks return to action on Friday at 5:00 p.m. MT against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Dylan Holloway’s two goals lifted the Blues over the Predators

The St. Louis Blues can’t stop winning. On Thursday evening, they took on the Nashville Predators, defeating their division rivals 3-2 to win their eighth consecutive game.
It looked as if the streak was about to come to an end, as Fedor Svechkov and Brady Skjei scored for the Predators to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. However, Dylan Holloway scored midway through the middle frame to cut the lead in half, with Cam Fowler tying the game and Holloway scoring the game-winning goal.
The Blues return to action on Saturday, finally playing a tough game as they head to Denver to take on the Colorado Avalanche. With this win, the Blues move to two points behind the St. Louis Blues, with one extra game played.

Hockey Club was blown out 8-0, fell to 10 points behind the final wild card

It wasn’t a great night for the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday, as they fell 8-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Hockey Club won’t be included in the wild card recap as they’ve fallen to 10 points behind the Blues for the final spot. Who knows, maybe they go on a huge run with their 10 games remaining while the Blues, Flames, and Canucks all lose the majority of their games. Until that very unlikely scenario happens, they won’t be included in this series.

Introducing the Minnesota Wild

Thanks to the Blues going supernova like it’s 2019, the Minnesota Wild are now within striking distance. On Thursday, they defeated the Washington Capitals, coming back from an early 2-1 deficit with two second period goals and a third period goal.
On Saturday, the Wild host the New Jersey Devils at 4:00 p.m. MT.

How the standings look

The Minnesota Wild currently occupy the first wild card spot with a 41-27-5 record with 87 points in 73 games. They have two more points than the St. Louis Blues with a game in hand. As noted, the Blues have won their last eight games and have 85 points in 74 games played.
With that being said, both the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames are within striking distance due to fewer games played. With a 34-26-12 record and 80 points, the Canucks would be just one point behind with their game in hand. If the Flames (34-26-11 record with 79 points) were able to win their three games in hand, they’d be even in points with the Blues.
As for the Hockey Club, they are now 10 points back with a 32-29-11 record and 75 points. They have two games in hand.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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