Game 48 Recap – Victory over the Kings

The Flames take two points out of L.A. with Olli Jokinen and Mike Cammalleri making no mistake in the shoot-out. A balanced game with a strong effort from both teams came out with the Flames on the two point side. Miikka Kiprusoff had another outstanding game to back stop the Flames to the win.

The West this year has shaped up differently than last year. The final playoff spot projects out on current records to be a mere 91 points, a record well within the Flames reach.

A 5 way log-jam between the Avalanche, the Wild, the Stars, the Coyotes and the Flames is in place for that final spot. The top 7 teams are opening up a gap and staking claim to their playoff ticket. The Kings with Darryl Sutter have righted the ship and are making up ground, going 5-1-4 over their last ten. The Kings can be expected to pull away from the bubble club.

None of the seven top teams in the West in a playoff position is surprising. The battle for the final spot though will be interesting. Make the jump for a handy little chart of the enemy and the teams you want to start cheering to lose.

If each team maintains its current record and performance, the final playoff spot in the West would be taken by the Stars with 91 points but that is only if all teams maintain their current point production. That isn't going to happen.

The Stars and Wild both had strong starts to the season so it remains to be seen if they can maintain their performance. I doubt it, especially with the injuries both teams have taken in recent weeks. The Avs also have Matt Duchene out for at least January so they should stumble a bit. The Coyotes have been fairly steady along with the Flames but either the Flames or Coyotes could step it up easily.

The bottom line is that with a playoff cutoff line of 91 points based on performance this year there is no need to tag the usual 96 point cut-off. That is possible of course but not likely for this year.

Last nights 2 points is another step in the right direction. The bubble club is thick and now expect to hear the cliche of "every game counts" on a regular basis.

Couple Videos

Sutter Post Game

Iginla Post Game

The Shoot-out – Bang / Bang for Olli and Cammy

Post-Game Celebration (Olli is all business, probably already thinking about the next game – lol)

by M Smith