The Calgary Flames enter play Monday with the calendar almost as much an impediment in their road to the playoffs as the teams they're jockeying for position with. Calgary has played 66 games, and a recent 3-6-1 slide has seen them slip all the way to 11th in the Western Conference.
They're still four points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card spot and six points behind the San Jose Sharks for second place in the Pacific Division. Though a crowd of teams sits between them and the playoffs, they'll have an opportunity to work their way back into the top-eight this week on a three-game road trip that begins Monday night in Pittsburgh. And they'll get a bit of a boost at PPG Paints Arena, where forward Micheal Ferland is expected to return to the lineup.
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Ferland, who has missed the past four games with an upper-body injury, took line rushes on his regular spot at morning skate with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. The Flames are 0-3-1 since Ferland sustained that injury that has kept him in the press box, while his linemates have gone cold, a goal to show between them over those four games (coming from Monahan, on the power play).
The Flames will play at Pittsburgh Monday, at Buffalo Wednesday, and at Ottawa Friday (those latter two games probably falling in the 'must-win' or at the very least 'would-be-bad-losses' category).
Glen Gulutzan says the return of Micheal Ferland “puts everyone back in the right spot”. Also says team knows importance of this game.
— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) March 5, 2018
While the Flames have spent most of the season inside the top-eight in the West, this 3-6-1 stretch that began after Feb. 11 has seen a few teams pass Calgary in the standings. That's not a random date, either: It's the time the Flames have been without starting goaltender Mike Smith, injured in the final seconds of a victory against the Islanders. What looked a potentially significant injury was supposed to keep Smith out 'day-to-day.' Three weeks later, and it's still unclear when Smith will return (Smith is also not traveling with the Flames to begin this three-game road trip, meaning his absence will probably extend to missing at least 13). In that 10 games without Smith, the Flames have allowed 36 goals, over a goal per-game more than they're average in the first 56 games of the regular season with Smith getting most of the starts.
With Smith out though, players like Gaudreau (who leads the team with 73 points) and Monahan (who leads the team with 29 goals) need to be that much better. With Ferland returning to the lineup, and getting " ... everyone back in their right spot," it could help jumpstart th Flames top line at a point in the season they need it most.