Calgary's Season Is Toast, But They're About to Face the Avalanche's Ironman and It Won't Matter One Bit

The Calgary Flames have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but they're not going away quietly. The Flames (33-38-9, 75 points) stomped Utah 4-1 on Sunday and are sticking around to make life difficult for teams still fighting for their postseason lives. On Tuesday night, they'll host the Colorado Avalanche, a team that has absolutely nothing to play for anymore.

The Avalanche Are Already Looking Ahead

Colorado (53-16-11, 117 points) locked up the top overall seed with a win over Calgary last Thursday, and now they're just going through the motions for the final two games of the regular season. The Avalanche came into this stretch off a 2-1 shootout victory over Edmonton on Monday, but you can feel the intensity shifting. Colorado's coach Jared Bednar didn't even make the road trip after taking a puck to the face during Saturday's loss to Vegas, which left him with facial fractures and a corneal abrasion.

The Avalanche have been resting key players with nothing on the line. Artturi Lehkonen, who missed three weeks in March with injury, sat out Monday's game. Cale Makar (upper body), Josh Manson (upper body), and Nazem Kadri (finger) were all out of the lineup. This is what happens when you've already locked down the best seed in the entire league.

The Flames Are Building for Next Season

Calgary's focusing on momentum and getting young players experience. The latest to get his NHL debut was defenseman Abram Wiebe, who signed with the Flames right after his North Dakota State team got upset by Wisconsin in the Frozen Four on Thursday. The 22-year-old played 11:19 in a loss to the Kraken and followed that up with 7:44 against Utah.

"It's been pretty crazy, going down to Vegas for the Frozen Four, getting upset by Wisconsin (Thursday), and then having to flip the page to sign my first contract and play my first NHL game," Wiebe told Sportsnet 960 The Fan after Calgary's loss to Seattle.

The Flames still have a chance to place three players in the 82-game club: Mikael Backlund, Morgan Frost, and Joel Farabee. Meanwhile, Colorado's Brent Burns is chasing immortality, having played in 1,005 straight games Monday night, the second-longest ironman streak in NHL history behind Phil Kessel's 1,064 consecutive games from 2009-23.

One Last Milestone Before Playoffs

Colorado still has something to chase even with seeding locked down. Martin Necas is one point away from 100 for the first time, and Nathan MacKinnon is hunting the Rocket Richard Trophy with a career-high 52 goals. He's one ahead of Montreal's Cole Caufield and could be the first Avalanche player to lead the league in goals since Milan Hejduk in 2002-03.

The Flames host Los Angeles on Thursday before this stretch ends. For Colorado, it's just about staying sharp.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.