Don’t look now, but the Calgary Flames are just four points back of the feel-good story of the NHL season in Edmonton.
Just four back of the powerhouse Ducks too.
A 4-0-1 road trip has the Flames playing their best hockey of the season, which is one of the many reasons the Flames won’t be a major player in Wednesday’s deadline dealing.
Granted, GM Brad Treliving addressed the team’s biggest shortcoming last week when he acquired Michael Stone from Arizona to be the team’s fourth defenceman.
The other two significant holes in his team’s lineup all year – goaltending and a top-line winger – have been shored up of late, making it easier for Treliving to ignore some of the bloated price tags being affixed to available rentals.
Coming into the season many wondered who would make good on the opportunity to play on the right side of a top line with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau.
Since the departure of Jiri Hudler at last year’s deadline, no one has been able to meaningfully contribute to the team’s most talented duo.
Until the last few weeks.
After bouncing around all season long from line to line, Micheal Ferland seems to have found some chemistry with the big boys, scoring six times in 12 outings. It has helped Gaudreau rediscover his touch, as the wee winger picked up two goals and six helpers in the last four road games.
The sample size is small, but it gives Treliving cause to pause on the possibility of pulling the trigger on a Thomas Vanek, Radim Vrbata, Patrick Sharp, P.A. Parenteau or even Jarome Iginla, who would cost the rebuilding Flames valuable draft picks.
Aside from a season-saving, second-quarter run by Chad Johnson, goaltending was the team’s biggest problem most of the season.
However, after a horrid start Brian Elliott has finally settled in to become the goalie they hoped he’d be.
Clearly tabbed as the team’s go-to netminder for the stretch run, Elliott is 7-2-1 in his last 10, while lowering his goals-against average and upping his save percentage.
His numbers are still off from the sparkling stats he posted in St. Louis, but he’s been making huge saves late in tight games to preserve crucial wins.
No longer does Treliving need to kick tires on acquiring Marc-Andre Fleury, who he looked closely at last summer.
In fact, should the confidence the team is putting in Elliott continue to grow into the playoffs, it’s suddenly not out of the question the 31-year-old could be re-signed in Calgary this summer.
However, there’s plenty of hockey to be played between now and then.
Up front, the ‘3M Line’ continues to be the backbone of the Flames, as Selke Trophy candidate Mikael Backlund, Michael Frolik and Matthew Tkachuk provide the team with its best defensive and offensive option.
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If Treliving could snap his fingers to augment anything it would be his impotent third line. However, 20-year-old Sam Bennett and Troy Brouwer are long-term fixtures and Kris Versteeg has provided playmaking and versatility that the team has counted on several times this year.
At the back end, Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton make a formidable pair, while T.J. Brodie finally has a stabilizing partner in Stone.
Recent addition Matt Bartkowski has fit in well early on as a third-pairing addition with the wildly popular Deryk Engelland.
Perhaps the biggest coup the Flames could pull off before the deadline would be trading pending UFA Dennis Wideman, who has been earning his $6-million salary as a healthy scratch the last four games. Unlikely.
With 19 games left and no more back-to-backs to deal with, the surging Flames seem to have transformed themselves from a playoff-bubble bunch to sudden force in the West.
League-wide chatter about the club all year has revolved around its goaltending woes and the struggles of Johnny Hockey.
The talk might soon turn to, ‘How in the world did the Flames catch the Oilers?’
After all, had the Flames won one of their four tilts against Edmonton, as opposed to being swept, they’d be tied with a club that has drawn endless praise and admiration all season long.
The latest monumental test comes Tuesday when the Kings – who are suddenly six back of the Flames – visit Calgary for the second of five meetings.
The trade deadline comes a day later.
Plenty to be decided in terms of the Flames’ playoff fate, but not much to do in terms of swapping.
