Flames' first round matchup preview!

After a season’s absence, Calgary Flames are back in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Flames will take on their division rival Anaheim Ducks in the opening round, which gets underway later this week.

Games one and two will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Thursday, April 13th and Saturday, April 15th, both at 8:30pm MT. The series then switches to Calgary’s famed Scotiabank Saddledome for games three and four on Monday, April 17th and Wednesday, April 19th, both at 8pm MT. Should the series need further settling then games five, six and seven will go Friday, April 21st, Sunday April 23rd and Tuesday, April 25th.

Despite a strong rebound from some early season inconsistency, the Flames are still considered an underdog heading into the series. That’s partly because of their dreadful record inside Anaheim’s Honda Center over the past decade. The last time the Flames beat the Ducks in Anaheim was April 25th, 2006. To put that in perspective, Flames rookie sensation Matthew Tkachuk was only eight-years old at the time. If the Flames are to be taken seriously this post-season they’ll need to break the Honda Center Curse and win at least a single game on the road versus the Ducks.

In their five games during the regular season, the Flames went 1-4 against the Ducks and were outscored 17-14, despite posting a 23% power play rating. Leading the way for the Flames in those five games was Kris Versteeg with five points and Mikael Backlund, Alex Chiasson, Mark Giordano and Johnny Gaudreau with four points apiece. Those players, along with major contributors like Sean Monahan and Dougie Hamilton will need to step up their game against the Ducks or they could be in for a quick playoff exit.