In the words of South Park's Randy Marsh: “I didn’t hear no bell.”
The Calgary Flames continue their bitter pursuit of the final Western Conference Wildcard playoff position tonight in what is a must-win against the San Jose Sharks at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
At a Glance
Calgary Flames (38-27-14, 90 pts) vs. San Jose Sharks (20-48-11, 51 pts)
Last Ten: Calgary (5-2-3) San Jose (2-6-2)
Time: 6:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
TV: SN360, SN1, SNP, NBCSCA
Overdue
9-1-0 against the Sharks in the past three seasons, you have to wonder if San Jose takes two points tonight simply due to the fact that they are a pro sports team that can’t go below .100 against any given team.
Unfortunately for Head Coach David Quinn and the team that plays for him, they head into this game ice cold and on an eight-game losing streak. Surprisingly, not their longest losing streak (nine games, Oct. 10-26,) but a loss tonight would match that mark.
Rising Star
Despite their recent woes, 2024 first overall draft selection Macklin Celebrini comes into tonight’s game red hot.
Since April 3 – Macklin Celebrini
Goals: 3
Assists: 6
Points: 9 (4th in NHL)
+/-: +6
Maintaining an impressive goal differential at 5v5 might be the most impressive part of that stat line. The Sharks have been outscored 14-23 since April 3 and are 0-4-1. Celebrini has been on the ice for only three of those 24 goals.
A Year Apart
Some may remember that these two teams faced off last season around this time of the year. The final game of the season for both teams on April 18, 2024.
Playing through an undisclosed injury, Blake Coleman scored his 30th goal and 24th assist to finish with a career-high 54 points. MacKenzie Weegar notched his 20th goal of the season; also a career-high. Dustin Wolf saved 16 of 17 and Adam Klapka scored his first NHL goal.
The vibes were good despite the team finishing 24th and well out of a playoff spot.
It is truly impressive to observe how much better the team is this season compared to last.
Obviously, there is points. 81 last season versus likely 92 or 94 this season.
More importantly, the hockey is so much better. The team is 8-2-3 since March 18 and 9-4-4 since the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline. Six of their last eight wins have been comebacks. Every night that the Flames play is a wild ride.
God, it’s such a shame that this team dropped a point here and a point there on their way to this photo finish. Even one win against the Blues this season would have made such a difference.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Courtesy of Derek Wills. @Fan960Wills
Huberdeau-Kadri-Klapka
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Sharangovich-Frost-Pospisil
Lomberg-Rooney-Farabee
Hanley-Weegar
Bahl-Andersson
Bean-Pachal
Wolf (Starter)
Vladar
But the Vibes Were Excellent
One downside to pounding the Sharks in game 82 last season? They passed Seattle in the standings on a tie breaker.
Seattle truly deserved the better pick. They lost 13 games in overtime. Those losses are always tough on the players, fans and coaching staff.
That same tie-breaker (Regulation Wins) may end up being what sinks Calgary’s playoff hopes—or slots them below Vancouver.
We don’t have access to Calgary’s list, but it’s worth wondering if the Conroy and Co. go for a center if Berkly Catton, who Seattle picked, is still on the board.
A strong finish saw Catton right the ship this season. The 19 year old from Saskatoon finished with 34 goals and 109 points in 57 games. Compare that to last year where he had 54 goals and 116 points in 68 games and you can understand why some claim that his stock didn't rise enough.
14 points in five playoff games put a lot of critics to bed, but Zayne Parekh recording almost as many points (107) from the blue line certainly implies that his trajectory is aiming a little higher.
One of those small things with immense implications down the line.
San Jose Sharks Projected Lineup
Courtesy of nhl.com writing staff.
Nikolai Kovalenko -- Macklin Celebrini -- Will Smith
William Eklund -- Alex Wennberg -- Tyler Toffoli
Carl Grundstrom -- Zack Ostapchuk -- Thomas Bordeleau
Noah Gregor -- Ty Dellandrea -- Barclay Goodrow
Henry Thrun -- Timothy Liljegren
Lucas Carlsson -- Jan Rutta
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Jack Thompson
Georgi Romanov
Alexandar Georgiev
Game time is 6:00 p.m. MST.
Stats courtesy of nhl.com.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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