The 2025 March playoff drive has been truly bizarre.
On March 17, the Calgary Flames were two points out of a playoff spot with 71 points. St. Louis and Vancouver were ahead of them by two points with 73.
On March 27, the Blues sit four points ahead and Vancouver one.
The Flames won all four of their games over those ten days.
Tonight may be Calgary’s toughest challenge of the season. The third-place Dallas Stars stand in the way of their winning streak increasing to five games. For once, the Flames are a team that doesn’t carry a penchant for surprising against contenders. Mikael Backlund returns to the lineup after almost seven games off. Calgary then heads out on a three-game road trip with each stop being either an underrated or well-established rivalry.
What a time to be alive. Let's dive in.
Backlund
Does anyone else feel like there was some positive growth during Backlund’s seven (minus 2:58) games off?
It could be the old Do it for Cap mentality that saw the team force four straight comeback wins—or, it could be something else. Let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment:
Do the Flames swing as hard with momentum in those games if Backlund goes out and logs safe minutes every three shifts?
Tough to say, but one certainty is that Calgary missed Mikael’s contribution to the penalty kill. The Flames went 10/15 in his absence. 66.7% ranks T-26th over that time.
A Night Off
Yegor Sharangovich will get the night off. He’s -7 with a goal and an assist in 14 games since returning from the Four Nations break.
The common belief is that it’s injury-related. In a league where missing time can cost you a spot in the top-nine, it makes sense that Yegor is pushing it, but a spade is a spade at this point.
Rooney
Some fans have voiced their desire for Sharangovich to move down into Kevin Rooney’s spot on the fourth line. That doesn’t seem to hold much water. Rooney has posted a positive on-ice goal differential since the NHL resumed action on Feb 20, led all forwards in penalty kill time on ice (15:17) since Backlund got hurt, and even chipped in a primary assist on Adam Klapka’s goal against the Kraken on Tuesday.
Might need to get out your reading glasses to catch that assist.
Dallas
Calgary is 0-2-0 against Dallas this season, but both games seemed winnable for either team. The next four games are a true test of spirit.
At a Glance
Calgary Flames (34-25-11, 79 pts) vs. Dallas Stars (46-21-4, 96 pts)
Last Ten: Calgary (6-2-2) Dallas (6-2-2)
Time: 7:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
TV: SNW, Victory+
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Morning skate lines courtesy of Pat Steinberg.
@Fan960Steinberg
Head Coach Ryan Huska says Rasmus Andersson is available to play.
Zary-Kadri-Pospisil
Huberdeau-Frost-Coronato
Farabee-Backlund-Coleman
Lomberg-Rooney-Klapka
Hanley-Weegar
Bahl-Pachal
Bean-Miromanov
Wolf
Vladar
Dallas Stars Projected Lineup
Courtesy of nhl.com writing staff.
Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Mikko Rantanen
Mason Marchment -- Matt Duchene -- Mikael Granlund
Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Evgenii Dadonov
Oskar Back -- Sam Steel -- Colin Blackwell
Thomas Harley -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Esa Lindell -- Cody Ceci
Lian Bichsel -- Matt Dumba
Casey DeSmith
Jake Oettinger
Hope in the Scorecard
Dallas is coming off three wins in a row. An 3-2 OT squeaker against Philadelphia where they gave up a two-goal lead, A dominant 3-0 asphyxiation of the Minnesota Wild, and a 4-3 win over the toothless Oilers where they almost blew a four-goal lead in the third period.
Maybe things shake out differently, but don't turn off your TV if the Stars take a lead. One team is specializing in comebacks of late, and the other is giving up leads to starless offences.
Feel Like We're Forgetting Something..
Maybe this whole piece gets ahead of itself.
A small editor's note here, that's unlikely. This isn't really a place where we get off track for anything.
Does this whole 500 words
really not mention that the Flames are coming off their most emotional win of the 2024-2025 regular season?
My god, we haven't addressed the vibes. They're great. Whether they make the playoffs or not, this season has been getting more exciting with each passing game. Here's to another night of (hopefully electric) hockey!
Puck drop around 7:00 p.m.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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