![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/70c8fc80.png\")
<\/p>\nEvery win, loss and overtime point is magnified for the Calgary Flames.<\/p>\n
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With 13 games remaining in their regular season, including seven at home, the Flames are in a fight to the finish for an NHL playoff spot.<\/p>\n
Calgary (33-25-11) are one point back of St. Louis and have three games in hand on the Blues, who hold down the Western Conference\u2019s final wild-card berth.<\/p>\n
But the Flames were also just a point up on the Vancouver Canucks, who were visiting the New Jersey Devils on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the looks of it, we\u2019re going to need every point we can get,\u201d said Flames forward Blake Coleman.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/heros.daytin.woldu.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDeserving 14-year-old Calgary Flames fan gifted trip of a lifetime\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Flames felt good about themselves Monday after winning three straight on a four-game road trip, and capping it with a come-from-behind 4-3 overtime victory over the New York Islanders.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe line between the way you got to play right now and the way you\u2019ve got to play game one of the playoffs, there is not any difference in my opinion,\u201d said Coleman, who lifted back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know how important every point is and every game is and guys are willing to put themselves in front of shots and do what it takes.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t![\"For](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/national.jpg\")
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\u201cYou\u2019ve got to pay a price this time of year. And if you want to be a playoff team and do well in playoffs, that\u2019s kind of hockey you got to play, so we\u2019re just getting an extra dose this time around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calgary hosts the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday and the Dallas Stars on Thursday before Saturday\u2019s clash with the provincial-rival Oilers in Edmonton.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tThe Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers\u2019 will renew their provincial rivalry on Saturday as the Flames continue to chase a playoff spot.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tTHE CANADIAN PRESS\/Jason Franson\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve still got to catch a team in front of us, so got to get some points,\u201d said Flames left-winger Jonathan Huberdeau, whose equalizing goal Saturday on Long Island was his team-leading 27th.<\/p>\n
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Some good news Monday for Calgary was captain Mikael Backlund seemed close to a return to the lineup after sitting out five straight games with an upper-body injury.
The Swedish centre didn\u2019t travel with the club on its recent road swing.<\/p>\n
Backlund participated fully in Monday\u2019s practice, but head coach Ryan Huska said how Backlund\u2019s body felt after that workout would determine whether the captain plays Tuesday against the Kraken.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re missing our captain, our leader in the room and on the ice, the guy that works so hard, so it\u2019s not easy to not have him in the lineup,\u201d Huberdeau said. \u201cWhen we have him back, it\u2019s going to be awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Defenceman Mackenzie Weegar, who was scratched from Saturday\u2019s game against the Isles with a lower-body injury, remains day-to-day, Huska said.<\/p>\n
Forward Joel Farabee was a full practice participant Monday after sitting out Saturday\u2019s game with illness.<\/p>\n
So the Flames, who have gone 7-4-3 since the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, continue to push for a post-season return after two straight years outside the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Calgary made a rare second-round playoff appearance in 2022 with a roster the barely resembles the current edition.<\/p>\n
Belief inside the dressing room and little outside of it was the theme to start this season for a reworked, younger Flames, who have stayed playoff relevant and ranked as high as second in the Pacific Division in November.<\/p>\n
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Huska says the poise of veterans Backlund, Coleman, Weegar, Huberdeau, defenceman Rasmus Andersson and forwards Nazem Kadri and Ryan Lomberg has gone a long way to instill belief in a low-scoring team that it can beat any other team in the league.<\/p>\n
The tenacious and resilient Flames manage to win games despite a penalty kill ranked 27th in the NHL, a faceoff percentage ranked 30th and a lack of first-period goals.<\/p>\n
Only eight other NHL clubs Monday had a better save percentage than the combined .900 of Calgary\u2019s Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn certain games, the style that we\u2019ve played all year long, we\u2019ve been in a lot of close games, and it just doesn\u2019t seem to phase our group,\u201d Huska said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team has a really good understanding of how we need to play to have success, and that\u2019s the other important thing for me. When you have goaltending that\u2019s giving you a chance to win, when you have a team that understands their identity or what they have to look like, and there is a belief that they can play a certain style, then that gives the coaching staff a lot of belief that they\u2019ll be able to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/carney_oilers.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPM Carney practices with Edmonton Oilers\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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