Tuesday was a busy day for the National Hockey League and the Western Conference wild card race.
All four teams in contention for the final wild card spot, the Calgary Flames, the St. Louis Blues, the Utah Hockey Club, and the Vancouver Canucks were in action. All but one team, the Utah Hockey Club, were in the final wild card spot at one point or another on Tuesday evening.
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 usually Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Let’s take a look at what happened on Tuesday evening.
The Flames defeat the Rangers in a close game
Monday wasn’t great for the Calgary Flames as they fell 6-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs to begin their homestand. Tuesday was a lot kinder to the Flames though, as they defeated the New York Rangers 2-1.
Early in the first, Artemi Panarin scored his 30th of the season after MacKenzie Weegar blew a wheel on the rush. However, Nazem Kadri scored his 24th of the season midway through the first, followed by Matt Coronato’s 17th of the season on a power play late in the first period. If Coronato can consistently score 20+ goals a season with a couple of 30+ goal seasons, that’ll be great for the Flames.
As the Flames were on the East Coast, their game finished first, meaning that they were briefly in the final wild card, but that didn’t last long.
Up next, the Flames head to Newark, New Jersey to face Jacob Markström and the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
The Blues outscore the Predators
Taking the Flames’ spot in the final wild card was the St. Louis Blues. On Tuesday, they defeated the Nashville Predators 4-1. Defenceman Justin Faulk opened the scoring six minutes into the first period, followed by Jake Neighbours’ goal late in the first.
Late in the second, Jordan Kyrou made it 3-0 and with a second left in the second, the Predators scored. However, they were unable to build off that and ultimately lost 4-1.
Up next for the Blues is the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, that’s a pretty big matchup.
The Hockey Club was smashed by the Oilers
The only score that went the Flames’ way came courtesy of the Edmonton Oilers. On Tuesday, they smashed the Utah Hockey Club 7-1, scoring their opening goal with 7:34 in the first period and never looked back.
The Oilers added another two goals in the first period, and scored twice in the second (while the Hockey Club scored once), before adding two goals early in the third period.
Like the Flames, Blues, and Canucks, the Hockey Club is in action on Thursday as they return home to host the Buffalo Sabres at 7:00 p.m. MT. The Sabres haven’t been good this season but the Flames created some separation in the standings last night.
The Canucks blew out the Jets
The St. Louis Blues occupied the final wild card spot for about two hours before the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Winnipeg Jets 6-2 to regain the spot. Thanks to the Montréal Canadiens win on Tuesday, there are six Canadian teams in a post-season spot, with the Flames occupying a spot at one point last time. I don’t remember a time in my life that’s happened.
About five minutes into the first period, Drew O’Connor opened the scoring for the Canucks. Nikolaj Ehlers tied the game with about five minutes left but the Canucks scored two late goals thanks to Brock Boeser and Nils Höglander. The Jets scored 7:07 into the second period, but it was all the Canucks from there, as Boeser scored his second followed by two Pius Suter goals.
On Thursday, the Canucks travel to Missouri to take on the Blues. The question is, who should we root for? Well, let’s look at that in “how the standings look”.
How the standings look
So here’s how the standings look as of Wednesday afternoon:
With a 32-25-11 record (68 games) and 75 points, the Vancouver Canucks occupy the final wild card spot. The St. Louis Blues have an equal number of points but have played one extra game (69 games), which happens to be the first tiebreaker.
That’s good news for the Flames, as they have a 31-25-11 record with 73 points. However, they have a game in hand on the Canucks and two on the Blues, meaning that if they win their extra game, they could move into the wild card spot. Let’s take a look at tiebreaking scenarios.
The first tiebreaker after games played (which doesn’t matter at the end of the season) is regulation wins, with both the Flames and Canucks having 25 regulation wins. After that, it’s the total number of regulation + overtime wins, with the Canucks having 30 to the Flames’ 28. If you’re curious about the other tiebreaker, the fourth is total wins (the Flames have one fewer), the fifth is points in head to head match-ups (both teams have five against one another), the sixth tiebreaker is goal differential (Canucks have a -14 GD, the Flames have a -24), and finally, the last tiebreaker is total goals.
It’s paramount that the Flames have more points than the Canucks by the end of the season because who knows how the tiebreakers will look in a month.
Returning to the standings, the Utah Hockey Club has a 30-27-11 record with 71 points and 68 games played. They aren’t out of it by any means but their loss on Tuesday set them back a bit.
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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