How the Calgary Flames can clinch a playoff spot this week

The Calgary Flames are on the verge of punching a ticket into the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it can come as early as Thursday. 

The Flames would become just the second team from the Western Conference and the sixth team league-wide to officially clinch a berth in the playoffs, after the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers. 

Calgary failed to qualify for postseason play a year ago. But a win at home against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday — in any form — would see the Flames lock in a berth. 

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Vegas is fourth in the Pacific Division with 85 points in 74 games this season. If the Golden Knights were to win their remaining eight regular-season contests outright, they’d finish at 101 points. A loss to the Flames would move Calgary to 101, and drop Vegas’ total available points to 99 — securing a spot for the Flames. 

The top three teams in each division automatically qualify for the playoffs. The remaining spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season record and regardless of division.

The Flames already have a 100% chance of making the playoffs, according to the public analytics site MoneyPuck, so a clinch is all but assumed. 

The division, according to MoneyPuck, is almost as assured.

The Flames have a 99.9% chance of winning the Pacific.

Calgary leads the Edmonton Oilers by nine points with one game at hand for tops in the division. Any combination of four Flames wins and Oilers losses will lock Calgary into first place in the Pacific and a likely date with the first wild card into the playoffs from the West. 

Entering action Wednesday, the Nashville Predators hold the first wild card with 89 points in 73 games. The Dallas Stars, who own the second wild card spot, have 88 points. 

Vegas trails the two by four and three points respectively, meaning there’s plenty for the Golden Knights to fight for on Thursday at the Saddledome. 

Should the Flames drop the contest, the next earliest opportunity to clinch against the Arizona Coyotes could come Saturday. A win against Arizona coupled with either a Los Angeles Kings loss against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday or a defeat against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday would see Calgary clinch. 

A Flames win against the Coyotes and a Vegas loss at Edmonton on Saturday would do the trick, too. 

Suffice to say, the Flames have a plethora of clinching scenarios over the next week. 

It’s more a matter of when. Not if. 

And after that, the Pacific Division title is next.