Story by
Flames Look To Build Momentum In Final Clash With Islanders
- Story by
- Flames Look To Build Momentum In Final Clash With Islanders
The Calgary Flames will try to build rare momentum Saturday night when they close out their season series with the New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y.
Calgary arrives on Long Island riding a surge of confidence after a high-scoring 5-4 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, a game that showcased the resilience the Flames have tried to rediscover during a difficult season. The victory came midway through an Eastern Conference road swing and offered a glimpse of the aggressive, competitive identity Calgary hopes to carry through the final stretch of the schedule.
Backlund Reaches 600-Point Milestone
Veteran center Mikael Backlund delivered a milestone moment in the win, scoring the eventual game-winning goal early in the third period while collecting the 600th point of his NHL career. For a Flames team that has spent much of the season battling adversity, the milestone was both a personal achievement and a symbolic spark.
Advertisement
"We want to play the right way every game and come out and play Flames style," Calgary center Mikael Backlund told reporters. "That's competing hard playing the right way. That's our main focus every night."
Even with the victory, the Flames remain buried near the bottom of the standings. Calgary entered the weekend with 59 points, 31st in the NHL and ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks . A disastrous opening stretch — 11 losses in their first 13 games (2-9-2) — left the club chasing the pack for most of the year.
Flames Searching For Rare Consistency
Now the math is daunting.
Advertisement
Calgary sits 10 points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the final Western Conference wild-card position, leaving the Flames with little margin for error as the regular season winds down. Consecutive victories have also been hard to come by — the Flames have managed back-to-back wins just twice since Jan. 1, posting an 8-14-3 record during that span.
Saturday offers an opportunity to change that narrative.
Islanders Feeling The Pressure
The Islanders, meanwhile, enter the matchup trying to shake off a frustrating loss and stabilize their own playoff positioning.
New York opened a weekend back-to-back against Pacific Division opponents Friday night and fell 3-2 to the Kings after digging themselves into an early hole. Los Angeles scored three times in the opening period before the Islanders mounted another late push.
Advertisement
Forward Emil Heineman fueled the comeback attempt with a pair of redirect goals across the final two periods, cutting the deficit to one early in the third. New York pressed hard down the stretch, outshooting the Kings 9-4 after Heineman's second goal, but a last-second chance from rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer was blocked by veteran blueliner Joel Edmundson with just two seconds remaining.
The defeat halted what had been a strong stretch for the Islanders since the Olympic break. New York had won five of its previous seven games and rallied from multi-goal deficits in four of those victories.
Still, constantly playing catch-up has begun to take a toll.
"It wears on you having to come back all the time," Islanders center Bo Horvat , who had the secondary assist on both of Heineman's goals. "We have to find ways to get leads and hold leads. Going down the stretch here like that's tough -- not only physically but mentally to keep having to come back in games like that."
Advertisement
Despite the loss, the Islanders remain firmly in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. New York entered the weekend tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins with 79 points — two ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final guaranteed Metropolitan Division playoff spots.
They also sit level with the Detroit Red Wings for the conference's top wild-card position and just one point ahead of the Boston Bruins .
For Calgary, the stakes are simpler.
The Flames are playing for pride, identity, and perhaps a foundation for next season — and another victory Saturday would mark one of their most consistent stretches in months.
