Flames have first chance to punch playoff ticket tonight

The clinching scenario couldn’t be more simple for the Calgary Flames. 

Win and you’re in. 

Or, even lose, as long as it’s beyond regulation.

Either option will be enough to mark the ‘x’ beside the club’s name on the official NHL standings page. 

And though they’ve got ample runway to do it, Thursday night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights offers the Flames a first chance to join the Colorado Avalanche as the only two teams in the Western Conference to start booking May dates. 

A point Thursday would give the Pacific Division-leading @NHLFlames the sixth 100-point season in franchise history and guarantee a trip to the 2022 #StanleyCup Playoffs. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/DjgoNpi6I6

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 14, 2022

“It’s a big accomplishment,” forward Blake Coleman said. “There was a lot of uncertainty with this team coming into the year and to get where you want to go, that’s the first thing you need to do and it’s not lost on us what a big deal it is to make the playoffs.

“There are 16 teams that don’t make the playoffs. It’s a big step for us, (but) it’s a stepping-stone that we need to get where we want to go, but the sooner we can clinch that and feel good about our position, the better.”

Coleman would know. 

He’s one of the few members of the Flames with significant playoff experience. He’s part of an even more select crew in Calgary that’s been to the promised land and has hoisted the Stanley Cup. 

Coleman, technically, is a defending Cup champion having won it in 2020 and 2021 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

"It's the goal at the start of every season, making playoffs."

Tyler Toffoli and Blake Coleman on being a point away from officially clinching a playoff spot. pic.twitter.com/hO94R4wxtn

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) April 14, 2022

So he’s as qualified as anyone to talk shop on clinching with Vegas, a Pacific Division foe, in town trying to delay the ticket-punching toast.

“Anytime you’re playing a playoff team — a team that’s going to be in the playoffs or has a chance to be — it’s going to have that intensity and that same feel as a playoff game,” Coleman said. “Sometimes, when you’re playing teams that are maybe mathematically not into it, they’re a little bit looser and it’s a little bit different style of game.

“As a team that we would likely have to get through to find the ultimate goal here, you always want to have a good showing against those teams, so I think tonight is going to be another intense game and you want to be on the right side of it.”

You might also like:
• How the Calgary Flames can clinch a playoff spot this week
• Johnny Gaudreau's parents have heartfelt reaction to son's 100 points (VIDEO)
• Gaudreau becomes first Flames player in 29 years to eclipse 100 points

Thanks in large part to amassing the NHL’s best record — a 22-6-3 mark that’s seen Calgary gather a league-leading 47 points — the Flames are in an enviable position to clinch early this season. 

They’ve got nine tries to get it done, and the added benefit of a clinch with any Los Angeles Kings loss. 

“That’s our regular-season goal is to be a playoff team,” Coach Darryl Sutter said. “The closer you can get to that, the better it is, for sure.

“(Games) 81 and 82 aren’t part of the regular season; 81 and 82 are for getting ready or packing up. That’s what it’s about. With our schedule, with the way it was set up with that trip at the end of the year (back-to-back at the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets), we didn’t want 81 and 82 to be a factor.”

"This is a good test."#Flames head coach Darryl Sutter speaks with the media ahead of tonight's game vs. Vegas at the 'Dome. pic.twitter.com/RVktg7Xxjk

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) April 14, 2022

It shouldn’t. 

The Flames should, pardon the pun, be home and cooled by then. 

But not cold.

“It’s a slippery slope,” Coleman said. “You don’t want to be a team that clinches early and takes the foot off the gas and isn’t playing the right way going into the playoffs.

“While we have the opportunity to clinch with a few games left in the season here, we’re still fighting for home ice — there are still things to play for that are important for our group going into the playoffs. I expect the intensity to go up for us. The hope would be the last couple games of the year aren’t meaningful in that sense, and maybe if guys need a breather or whatever, that’s obviously on the coaches to figure out with those players.

“But for the most part, you want to be hitting the playoffs at full stride, and feel really good about our group and our team. 

“We have eight or nine games left here to get to that point, so we’ll handle it the right way.”