Calgary Puck

The Flames didn’t seem to be letting on that they had any fear of playing the Chicago Blackhawks, something that could be seen in roster decisions in Los Angeles on Saturday night and again tonight in San Jose.

But the news that arrived before the game; a Predator loss in regulation was probably a sigh of relief as they took the ice knowing they had nailed down the top Wildcard spot and that their game meant nothing against the San Jose Sharks.

The game itself was fitting as it featured two teams pretending to care about a game that meant nothing, the final score a 3-1 victory for the Sharks concluding both team’s regular seasons.
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Before the game began, Jon Gillies was given the opportunity to shed his training camp number for the goalie jersey digits of his choice and ironically he picked a player sitting on the bench in the very same rink; #32 of Johnathan Quick. Equally ironic was the fact that his veteran clone was 190 feet from him all night as the equally mammoth Ben Bishop tended goal for the Kings against Gillies in his first NHL start.

That’s where the comparisons ended however, as the Flames and Jon Gillies turned a dominant second period into a 4-1 win to keep pace with the Nashville Predators and regain the 1st wildcard spot in the West’s crowded playoff race.

It was feel good story night for the Flames with the Gillies first start, first win beginning, but also in goals from two players that don’t see the lineup very often in Dennis Wideman and Freddie Hamilton .
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Make it an even 25!

With the game clock winding down and the Ducks winning 3-1 the Anaheim crowd took over and pretty much put an exclamation point on the proceedings with a great summary of the evening by way of a chant of “you can’t win here!”.

Clearly the length of the streak isn’t lost on the Californians either, as the Flames blew a 1-0 lead and dropped their 25 straight game in Anaheim, in a wild one that featured a boat load of penalty minutes in the third period.

The streak continues, but perhaps the Flames and Ducks will meet in the playoffs, giving them a chance to at least put another asterisk, like the 2006 playoff series, in the way of something that doesn’t seem to want to end any time soon.
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The Flames have made some big strides this season.

A 90 point team, playoff spot clinched, but perhaps there still lie a few demons to slay, one of which is the Ducks from Anaheim, a team that pretty much always play the Flames hard.

Tonight in a spirited game the Flames nemesis put another log on that fire of superiority, beating the Flames 4-3 with a late goal, in a game where the visiting club was clearly the better team.

Back at it for the Flames on Tuesday where they try and end a 13 year curse in Anaheim, and avoid the Blackhawks in the first round of the playoffs.
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Two years ago the Flames clinched a playoff spot against the L.A. Kings on Saddledome ice, ending a 5 year drought of missed playoff seasons. The result was somewhat of a surprise, as they ousted a team that seemed so much deeper, and more experienced then an upstart Calgary team that was supposed to be at the precipice of a rebuild.

Two years later and the two teams met up again on the same ice with the same stakes, but it’s amazing how much has changed in 24 calendar months. The Kings are somewhat of a let down, but its the Flames that have changed the most in that time frame, their youth more experienced, and their supplementary players more impactful.

And that wasn’t all that changed, as this time it’s the battle tested warriors with a firm “Not Yet!” delivered to the upstart young squad that was perhaps too focused on retribution and score settling and not ready for the game in hand in a 4-1 set back to the Kings on Wednesday night.

The Flames have 5 more kicks at the cat to get it done.
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