2 points out of the playoffs... Still believing?

[statquo]

I remember getting pounded by the Canucks around Christmas, and I thought that was it. Sutter finally resigned, I thought Jay Feaster was going to start tearing the place down and starting over. I knew there was a lot of time left in the season, but I thought the amount of teams ahead of us would make any push for the playoffs hard.

As of right now, we are two points out of the playoffs, have lost once in regulation in our last ten, and are playing pretty well. Kipper seems to be finding his confidence, Iggy is over 20 snipes for the year, guys like Moss and Jokinen are starting to do something. Things are encouraging but there's still like 5 teams in between us and a playoffs spot.

Are you still believing? Or is making the playoffs any reward, considering the future doesn't look too bleak with our team getting older, and no youth on the way?

[McJoe]

I almost still think Feaster should tear it down. Kipper and Iggy could bring in quite the packages IMO.

[statquo]

http://www.tsn.ca/story/?id=351448

CALGARY -- The Calgary Flames' fortunes look brighter than they did a month ago.

A 7-3-3 January bumped the club from 14th to 12th in the NHL's Western Conference, but more importantly just two points out of a playoff berth. Only six points separates fourth from 12th in the conference heading into the all-star break.

The Flames (24-21-6) feel good about their game and the fact they're in the post-season race.

They're also one of the oldest teams in the NHL needing to win nearly 70 per cent of their remaining 31 games, and that's if 95 points is the magic number for a playoff berth.

"It does feel good to be able to catch a couple of teams and be more in the mix, but it's still a ton of work ahead of us," captain Jarome Iginla cautioned.

Depending on who is in the lineup on a given night, Calgary's average age hovers around 30, which is second only to the Detroit Red Wings.

Questions over how much they have in the tank will continue, but it was possibly the Flames' collective experience that kept them from panicking last month, when they looked like an old, slow and expensive team going nowhere.

They were second-last in the conference and eight points out of the playoffs when the team announced Dec. 28 that GM Darryl Sutter was asked to resign and he had complied.

Head coach Brent Sutter, Darryl's brother, set the goal of winning two of every three games starting Dec. 23 in Dallas.

Calgary is well ahead of that pace with an 10-3-3 record since then. Their current four-game winning streak includes victories over Vancouver, Dallas and Nashville, ranked first, third and fourth in the West respectively.

The Flames need to keep that momentum going through their outdoor game at McMahon Stadium on Feb. 20, when they host the Montreal Canadiens in the Heritage Classic.

Calgary's position is still precarious. The conference is so tight a pair of losses sends them tumbling back down the standings.

"Things can change overnight," Brent Sutter said. "When you're not playing, other teams are. You've just got to continue to worry about your own business."

[statquo]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=352031

NASHVILLE -- Jarome Iginla has never seen such a tight playoff race and likes how his Calgary Flames are clawing their way into the mix in the Western Conference.

Rene Bourque scored the only goal in a shootout as Calgary rallied to beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Tuesday night for its fifth straight victory.

"If you win, you might move up a slot," Iginla said. "But there are so many teams that if you lose you're moving down two for sure because someone from that group is winning.

"Every game gets more important from here on out. It's going to be a heck of a race with so many teams that are within a few points of each other."

The Flames trailed 1-0 heading into the third period, and Matt Stajan and Cory Sarich scored to help Calgary force overtime.

In the shootout, Bourque slipped the puck under Pekka Rinne's leg to start. Alex Tanguay lost the puck, then Rinne stopped Olli Jokinen. But Miikka Kiprusoff stopped Martin Erat and Cody Franson.

David Legwand had a last chance to extend the shootout but couldn't beat Kiprusoff.

"We've got to hunker down when it's 1-0 and go from there and not let anything else happen after that," Legwand said.

Patric Hornqvist had a power-play goal for Nashville. Martin Erat also scored and Sergei Kostitsyn added two assists.

Calgary now has gone past regulation six times in the past 11 games and improved to 7-4 in shootouts this season. More importantly, the Flames continued their Western rally, having grabbed at least a point in 10 of the past 11 games.

Gotta keep this roll going to make up the ground/keep pace with the six or seven teams competing for those last three or four playoffs spots.

[statquo]

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=310203028

ATLANTA -- Brendan Morrison figured the Calgary Flames were due for a win in their former home city of Atlanta.

Mikael Backlund scored with about 6 minutes remaining to give Calgary the lead and the streaking Flames finally earned their first win in Atlanta, beating the Thrashers 4-2 on Thursday night.

Morrison, Mark Giordano and Curtis Glencross also scored as the Flames earned their sixth straight win, their longest streak in two years. Glencross scored an empty-net goal with 6 seconds remaining.

The Flames, who played in Atlanta as an expansion franchise from 1972-80, won in Atlanta for the first time in seven games since leaving the South.

"It figured that the law of averages said we were due," Morrison said.

Calgary was winless in six games in Atlanta since the Thrashers joined the league as an expansion team in 1999. The Flames' only point in Atlanta before Thursday night was a 3-3 tie in 2001.

"I guess this was our lucky season," Flames forward Alex Tanguay said.

Bryan Little and Anthony Stewart scored for the struggling Thrashers, who have lost nine of 11 but remained one point ahead of Carolina in the race for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Carolina lost to Toronto 3-0.

Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 22 shots as the Flames moved into a three-way tie with Chicago and Los Angeles for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Flames host to Los Angeles on Saturday.

"We have to keep this going," Giordano said. "There are some big conference games coming up. We're finding ways to win close games.

"We've been a good team all year. We feel like we have a strong team. Now is the perfect time to move up in the standings."

[statquo]

Big game tonight against a team in the hunt in the Kings. We've been beating the teams we've had to lately. This is one of those games that we need to win, especially against a talented Kings team.

[statquo]

http://flames.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2010020792

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - Justin Williams helped the Los Angeles Kings finally win in Calgary.

Williams had a goal and two assists and scored the winning goal in a long shootout Saturday night and the Los Angeles Kings won 4-3 over Calgary, snapping the Flames' six-game winning streak.

"We haven't won here for such a long time so it felt good," said Williams. "This is always such a tough arena to play in. Calgary is always a really tough team to play at home."

Los Angeles had lost 10 straight at the Saddledome since December 2005.

The victory moves the Kings back into playoff position, passing Minnesota to move into eighth in the Western Conference.

Calgary's seventh shooter was defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and after he hit the goal post, Kings coach Terry Murray turned to Williams, who snapped a shot past Miikka Kiprusoff to win it.

"I had two shootout attempts earlier this season and missed them both, so I knew I wasn't going to be in the top few," Williams said. "But when I got my chance, I knew I was going to shoot because a lot of guys tried to deke and the two guys before me missed the puck."

Tough pill to swallow losing in a shootout, especially after hitting the post like three times in the shootout. A hard earned point though, and in the race in the west, every points counts.

Flames Game Rush: http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?...id=DL|CGY|home

[carson005]

I don't know what to think about the Flames, they are playing good hockey though

[statquo]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=352924

CALGARY -- It took them 100 days, but the Calgary Flames finally clawed their way back into a playoff position.

Curtis Glencross' goal at 8:37 of the third period Monday night broke a 1-1 tie and propelled the Flames to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

After taking a feed from Olli Jokinen off the rush, Glencross took a couple strides before firing his 14th goal of the season past the glove of Corey Crawford.

Calgary has points in eight straight (7-0-1) and move ahead of the idle Long Angeles Kings into sole possession of eighth spot in the Western Conference.

"It's a great accomplishment for us," said Glencross. "We put ourselves in a hole early in the year and we've bounced back. We've had some adversity and we've shown a lot of courage to come back."

The Flames were last in a playoff position on Oct. 29, and their ascent back into contention began with a 3-2 win over Dallas on Dec. 23. Entering that game, the Flames were in 14th place in the conference, nine back of a playoff spot and just two points up on the last place Edmonton Oilers.

In the past 20 games, beginning with that road win, Calgary has gone a sizzling 13-3-4.

"It was tough days in here, we lost a few too many games in the fall and we were struggling, but we never stopped believing in ourselves and we always kept working," said Mikael Backlund, who scored the game's first goal. "Lately we've been playing really good hockey consistently and it feels really good to be back in the playoffs again."

Rene Bourque into an empty net also scored for Calgary (27-21-7), who have won two in a row against Chicago at the Scotiabank Saddledome after entering this season having lost seven straight against the Blackhawks on home ice.

These are the types of games we have to win. As long as we keep racking points up against the teams who are also in the playoff hunt we can't go wrong. Good to see Bourque finally score, even if it was just an empty netter. He started off so hot.

Flames Game Rush: http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?...id=DL|CGY|home

[GrkGawdofWalkz]

Seems like all the overlapped contracts are festering together. Just goes to show that Iginla is the best captain in the game today. Guys like Bourque, Giordano and Backlund continue to step up. Kippy is still a decent goalie obviously as well.

[BranWingss]

Seems like all the overlapped contracts are festering together. Just goes to show that Iginla is the best captain in the game today. Guys like Bourque, Giordano and Backlund continue to step up. Kippy is still a decent goalie obviously as well.

I like Lidstrom.

But, I'm surprised by Calgary's little run. They obviously don't have too much talent up front, well compared to other teams, yet they continue to get the job done. Jarome Iginla is proving that he is not done, like many thought when he was struggling. They are finally getting some secondary scoring as well. I'd love to see them in the playoffs. Stephen Weiss should be getting looked at.

[statquo]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=353226

CALGARY -- Curtis Glencross has the hot hand these days for the Calgary Flames.

Glencross had a goal and an assist as the Flames earned a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night.

Glencross broke a 2-2 tie with a breakaway goal late in the second period. Olli Jokinen sprung Glencross, who made no mistake by beating rookie goalie Robin Lehner with a shot to the top corner. It marked the second straight contest Glencross has registered the game-winning goal for Calgary.

"That was the turning point," Ottawa coach Cory Clouston said of Glencross's goal. "We played a good game up to that point for the most part and when that one went in it just really took the wind out of our sails and gave them the momentum going into the third.

"The way we are mentally and emotionally, we're very fragile, and they gained a lot of momentum off that and it killed us."

Tim Jackman scored twice for the Flames while Anton Babchuk had a goal and two assists. Jokinen had the other goal for Calgary (28-21-7), which earned its second straight win and eighth in nine games.

With Calgary trailing 2-1 after the first, Glencross said the club took time to regroup during the first intermission.

"We came back here and refocused after the first period and went back out and stuck to our gameplan," said Glencross. "We got bodies and pucks to the net."

Added Jackman: "That's the way it's been going, just timely scoring (and) big goals from a lot of guys. It's just a good feeling. Hopefully we continue."

Since losing 6-0 at home to the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 19, the Flames have gone 8-0-1 to climb back into contention in the Western Conference.

"Obviously we've got a lot of work ahead of us yet," said Glencross. "If you look at the standings there's a few games in hand that other teams have on us. We've just got to keep it one game at a time and stick with our program."

Playing in his 800th career game, Robyn Regehr added two assists.

"It was really nice to win and to be able to contribute a little bit offensively," said Regehr, who has a goal and four assists in his past four contests.

Flames Game Rush: http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?...id=DL|CGY|home

The wins keep coming. A game we should've won anyways, but it was good to see guys like Glencross, Babchuk and Jackman provide the spark. We're getting our goals from everyone lately, hopefully Iggy can start to put the puck in the net a little more often. The powerplay looked good tonight, too.

[GrkGawdofWalkz]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=353226

Flames Game Rush: http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?...id=DL|CGY|home

The wins keep coming. A game we should've won anyways, but it was good to see guys like Glencross, Babchuk and Jackman provide the spark. We're getting our goals from everyone lately, hopefully Iggy can start to put the puck in the net a little more often. The powerplay looked good tonight, too.

Solid win. I've liked Babchuk for a while. He was a good add from Carolina.

[statquo]

Solid win. I've liked Babchuk for a while. He was a good add from Carolina.

He's got the bomb from the point and plays mediocore defense, which is good enough for a third pairing. I like him a lot better than Steve Staois, Mikkelson and Pardy.

[statquo]

http://www.tsn.ca/story/?id=353499

CALGARY -- Saku Koivu had two goals and an assist and rookie defenceman Cam Fowler scored in overtime Friday to lead the Anaheim Ducks to a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Fowler scored the winner at 4:41 of a back-and-forth extra period, cutting in on Flames netminder Miikka Kiprusoff to bury his seventh of the season.

Teemu Selanne, who tied the game 4-4 on the power play with under three minutes to go in regulation, added a goal and three assists for the Ducks.

Brandon McMillan scored the other goal for Anaheim (31-21-4), while Rene Bourque, Olli Jokinen, Jarome Iginla and Curtis Glencross replied for Calgary (28-21-8).

The Ducks won their fifth straight road game to move into a tie with San Jose for fifth spot in the Western Conference. Calgary remains in eighth spot, one up on the Minnesota Wild.

Flames Game Rush: http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?...id=DL|CGY|home

Heart breaking loss there. We basically handed them the win. Stupid penalty by Glencross with two minutes left in the game, and then Regher over committed in overtime, which gave Fowler the free dance up the middle to bury it in overtime. Got the point though so can't be too disappointed, but definitly a game we should've gotten two points in.