Flames enter 2025 in playoff spot after fireworks with Canucks

CALGARY — Lest we forget, for the better part of the last two decades the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks were one another’s chief rival.

For proof, go ahead and Google, '2014 line brawl/Torts/Hartley/McGrattan.'

Well, what’s old is new again. 

Both teams resurrected the hate on Tuesday with an old-skool battle that included three fights, 50 penalty minutes, an attempted kick, endless jawing and a New Year’s Eve wish for more to come.

“Probably see somebody down the line here, hopefully,” said a smiling Ryan Lomberg, when asked about a failed attempt at his third fight of the night, following an exchange with Dakota Joshua interrupted by a rousing Saddledome sing-along to John Denver the Flames winger partook in.

“We were vibing, just having fun. I thought he was going to give me my third of the night, give me a nice little walk-off going into the new year. I think it’s after three they send you home. I told the boys in the locker room between periods, ‘stay tuned, you may be seeing me a little earlier.’”

Following a raucous second period that saw Lomberg sandwich fights with Erik Brannstrom and Derek Forbort around a J.T. Miller/Kevin Bahl tussle, cooler heads prevailed in time for an equally entertaining third.

But not before a scene that saw five Canucks players crammed into a storied Saddledome penalty box.

“They may have to do some renovations here at the Dome to make the box a little more spacious,” laughed Nazem Kadri, who eventually scored the game-winner in a memorable 3-1 win.

“It probably doesn’t fit more than two or three comfortably.”

Making one another uncomfortable seemed to be the name of the game with a string of big hits, questionable hits and even a failed Pius Suter kicking attempt on Joel Hanley that will earn a close look from the league.

“It was a fun one for sure,” said a beaming Connor Zary, who celebrated his 100th NHL game with a first-period goal that stood as the lone snipe going into the third.

“At times it got a little sloppy, it got pretty emotional out there and I think those ones are always fun to play in and kind of gets the juices flowing.”

No one in town gets them going better than Lomberg, who further amped up a sea of red and blue jerseys with the two tilts, endless jawing and the general mayhem he enjoys being in the middle of.

He was made for games like these.

“He’s a guy we lean on for energy and to bring it like that and you saw that tonight,” said Zary, whose club got an empty-netter from Jonathan Huberdeau to kickstart a second type of New Year’s Eve fireworks.

“Everyone just fed off each other and we were ready to go back and forth with them, especially with the emotional part of the games.

“He’s one of a kind, something special. Happy he’s on our side.”

In the midst of the second period’s chaos, there was MacKenzie Weegar stepping up to crosscheck Noah Juulsen following a knee-on-knee hit on Mikael Backlund.

A Tyler Myers crosscheck on Kadri gave the Flames a five-on-three power play they squandered before Vincent Desharnais and Blake Coleman exchanged slashes, Suter then lashed out at Hanley, and Miller ended the period jawing with Zary and Jakob Pelletier.

They got back to playing hockey in the third when an early Brock Boeser deflection past Dustin Wolf was answered by a Kadri goal midway through the frame for the eventual game-winner.

The win allowed the Flames to leapfrog the Canucks into the last wild-card spot in the West, which suggests their little hate-fest may have some staying power as we enter the second half of the season.

“I loved it,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska of his team’s composure in a game that tempted plenty to lose theirs.

“That’s the most emotion we’ve had in a game, and I thought our team fed off the building.

“We always want them to play with passion and emotion and they were really good at making sure they didn’t cross that line and put us in a bad spot. I was pleased with how they handled themselves tonight.”

Over the last three seasons, 40 of the 48 teams sitting in a playoff spot on New Year’s Day wound up staying there, making it a milestone the Flames could be proud of, albeit briefly.

“It’s huge — we’re not here to be in a playoff spot Jan. 1 and not at the end of the season,” said Lomberg.

“It’s great we’re in one now, and we’ve got to do what we can to stay in one.”

Kadri couldn’t resist taking a playful swipe at the gathered media when the playoff spot came up.

“Who all had that here? Anyone project that?” he said, smiling. “Experts.

“Listen, we fight to the end, that’s kind of how it works.

"There’s a lot of season left to play. It’s great going into the new year with a spot. We’d like to build on that.”

No better way to kick start 2025 than with Tuesday’s bang.

“It was great, especially in the third period,” added Kadri of the scene.

“Everyone is singing ‘West Virginia’ and getting into it.

"It’s nice to see everybody enjoying New Year’s Eve and heading into the new year on a positive note.”