Flames' playoff hopes dwindling after loss to Oilers
Published
The Calgary Flames' playoff hopes took another hit on Saturday after the Edmonton Oilers rallied late in the third period to take a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday night.
Calgary was defending a one-goal lead late in the third period thanks to a go-ahead goal from forward Brayden Pachal with 12:05 remaining in the frame.
Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl then took over, scoring the game-tying goal with 3:12 remaining in the third and then the overtime winner.
Draisaitl eclipsed the 50-goal plateau on the season with his two-goal performance in his first game back after missing four games with an undisclosed injury.
"[He's a] good player, you give him too much space he's going to make you pay and we saw that firsthand tonight," Flames forward Nazem Kadri said after the game. "I really like our game, actually. I felt like we really didn't give up on a whole lot either, so it [stinks] not to come out with two points, but one point's one point."
The Flames now sit fifth in the Pacific Division with a 34-26-12 record and are seven points behind the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues for the two wild-card spots in the Western Conference. They also would have to leapfrog the Vancouver Canucks, who sit one point ahead of them in the standings.
Calgary has gone 6-4-4 in the month of March and have 10 games remaining in the regular season, including five games against teams currently in the playoff picture and a key date with the Wild on April 11.
"It's tough, we kind of blew it at the end there," Pachal said. "These two points are the most important thing at this time of year in the race that we're in, so it's disappointing to lose that one tonight. I think we played pretty well for 55, 56, minutes but moral victories don't matter right now. We came here for the two points and we didn't get it."
The Flames continue their three-game road trip with back-to-back games with the Colorado Avalanche and Utah Hockey Club on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
Despite the loss, head coach Ryan Huska said there were positives to the Flames' game on Saturday and they will need to carry those over next week in order to bounce back.
"There were parts of it I liked and there were parts I thought we sat back and just didn't have that assertiveness or that killer instinct tonight that I thought we needed," said Huska. "So, it is a tougher one, but as we've said over the last little while, you have to quickly turn the page and move on and get ready for our next one."