The path to the playoffs for the Flames looks tough

As the playoff race in the Western Conference winds down, so too do the Calgary Flames‘ odds of qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Following weekend action, the Flames trail the Minnesota Wild by six points for the second wildcard seed with only six games remaining in their regular season schedule.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Matt Larkin discussed the Flames’ chances and debated which team could end up getting the final spot in the West.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The St. Louis Blues, they’re just never going to lose again. We can kind of accept that. They’re going to be a wildcard team. But what do you make of the race for the final spot? Is there a race? The Flames are six points back but have two games in hand. They have a head-to-head against the Wild as well. I’m not quite ready to say that the Flames are out of this thing. Are you?

Matt Larkin: I’m not ready to say they’re out of it, and I do think that April 11 game could actually decide that spot. But, do you know who has the easiest schedule in the entire NHL for the rest of the season? It’s the Wild. They get the San Jose Sharks, they get the Anaheim Ducks. They play the Flames, of course. I think the Flames have more momentum right now, especially Dustin Wolf, who had the bad March. He has a .932 save percentage in April, so we know that he has shown that he can carry this team when he is on. But I think the Wild have the inside track in terms of who they are playing because they can control their destiny. Also, we’re looking at Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek coming back maybe as soon as this week. From what I understand, Kaprizov is a little closer. That’s going to give them a lift as well. I say 60 percent chance for the Wild and maybe 40 percent for the Flames. I’m not feeling the Vancouver Canucks. They play the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars in their next couple of games. I think they’re out of this race, almost. So, if I have to make a bet right now, I’m going Minnesota.

Tyler Yaremchuk: If you’re Calgary, you basically have to go 5-1 and win that head-to-head [against Minnesota]. That would put you at 93 points. And if you’re Minnesota, you basically need to go 1-3, so the path for Calgary is very, very difficult, which is shame because about 10 to 14 days ago we were sitting here looking at the West and going, ‘Whoa, what a race that could be.’ And in the East even, where there are a whole bunch of teams fighting for the last spot, but some teams have gotten hot.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here: