Ward sees opportunity in tough week ahead
Schedule includes two hottest teams amid tight playoff race in Western Conference
By current NHL standards, it’s the week from hell.
Over the next eight days, the Calgary Flames are tasked with a brutal schedule that sees them face off against the NHL’S two hottest teams three times. They’ve got the Boston Bruins twice and the Tampa Bay Lightning once, with quick sojourns through Detroit and Nashville tossed in there, just for good measure.
For a Flames team that’s got no room for error as they fight for their playoff lives in an almost comically-close Western Conference playoff race, the red-hot Bruins and the white-hot Lightning are not usually the teams you’d want to see coming up on the calendar.
Interim head coach Geoff
Ward, however, sees it differently. Maybe it’s a byproduct of a naturally optimistic disposition, but Ward looks at the Flames’ upcoming schedule and likes what he sees.
“It’s great for us that we’re playing good teams — it’s going to force us to be at our best,” Ward said. “We know these teams are, you know, solid teams in all three zones of the ice. We’ve got to make sure we’re doing all the things that we need to do to be strong defensively and create chances off our checking and make sure we’ve got a third guy high. All the things you need to do to be a solid team at the end of the season, we’re going to need them in these games.”
The Flames are at the point in the season where the opponent barely matters — they just need wins. The two points up for grabs against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday are just as important as the two that are available for their Friday night game against the Bruins, their Tuesday night rematch in Boston or next Saturday’s matchup with the Lightning in Tampa.
You could argue Thursday’s tilt with the Nashville Predators is most important of all, given the Preds are three points back of the Flames in the Western Conference wild-card race and have two games in hand.
But it’s hard not to look at those three games against the Bruins and the Lightning and feel like we’ll have a better idea of who the Flames really are when they’re over. There are no tougher tests right now than the Atlantic Division powerhouses.
The Bruins’ 88 points are the most in the league, while the Lightning are right behind them with 85. The Bruins have won nine of their last 10 games, while the Lightning went into Las Vegas on Thursday night owning an 11-game winning streak.
You’re not going to beat either team without playing your best, and for a Flames team that has been plagued by inconsistency this season, it sort of makes sense that they’d look at the challenge the next eight days present and wonder if it’s exactly what they need.
“It’s good — it makes guys elevate their game and, obviously, step up,” said Flames centre Sean Monahan. “This is crunch time, and every shift that you go out there matters right now. You’re going out there trying to get as many points as you can and be climbing in the standings. You want to be in a playoff spot.”
It probably makes sense the Flames are publicly saying they view their upcoming schedule as an opportunity to elevate their game. Really, it’s not like they’re going to say the opposite and start complaining that it’s too hard.
And besides, the Flames’ recent schedule has served up a few games against the NHL’S cellar-dwellers and they seemed to play down to the level of their opponents, at times. Maybe they’ll do the opposite against the league’s elite?
“Those are two good teams,” said Flames defenceman Michael Stone. “I mean … those are two good teams that have a lot of history playoff-wise in recent years, and I think that’s a good test.
“That’s the time of year we’re at right now. It’s building towards playoff hockey, so those are the teams you want to play against.”
The Flames know the challenge ahead. They know the Lightning and the Bruins aren’t losing many hockey games right now. Even an overtime loss to the Bruins by the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night was treated like a parade-worthy accomplishment by some Edmontonians.
The road ahead over the next eight days is rough.
But to their credit, the Flames seem to be embracing it.
“For us, we feel like when we’re playing our game we’re a good hockey team,” Ward said. “We’re going into this week understanding that we need to play at the top of our game, and if we do, we’re gonna give them all that they can handle.”
This is crunch time, and every shift that you go out there matters right now.