DALLAS — Closing out one NHL playoff series to advance to the next has a way of accelerating a player’s maturation.
DALLAS — Closing out one NHL playoff series to advance to the next has a way of accelerating a player’s maturation.
The Calgary Flames may have been the highest seed heading into their conference quarterfinals against the Dallas Stars, but Dallas’ lineup is packed with players who know what it takes to push deep into the postseason after reaching the Stanley Cup final two years. behind.
“You want to break that down just (compare) the two lineups and see who has played in more winning series games,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said.
“It’s not an easy thing to do.”
The first round of the 2022 NHL playoffs challenged Calgary to transfer what gave them a division-leading 50-21-11 season to the playoffs.
The Flames failed that test in 2019. Calgary finished first in the Western Conference but was quickly ousted in five games by the wild-card Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
“It’s always hard to win the last game no matter what sport you’re in,” Sutter said. “You’re not a proven playoff team until you make it several years in a row and then have some success, if you look at the history of champions.
“Guys are still learning. I’ve said that after every game. It’s a process for our younger players.”
Forwards Johnny Gaudreau and Mikael Backlund are the only remaining Flames from the 2015 edition who clinched a first-round series in Game 6 against the Vancouver Canucks.
It was a wild finish with Calgary overcoming a 3-0 deficit to win 7-4.
“It’s hard to finish a team’s season,” Gaudreau said. “A lot of guys haven’t gotten to a point like this in his career. It’s exciting.”
Calgary was eliminated in the second round that year by the Anaheim Ducks in five games.
The Flames beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-0 in Game 4 of a best-of-five qualifying round in Edmonton’s 2020 playoff bubble to advance.
But Calgary blew a 3-0 lead in Game 6 of their first-round series against the Stars to fall 7-4 at Edmonton and drop out of the playoffs.
Most of the Flames lacked successful reps in the playoffs, which was designed to remedy with the addition of two-time Stanley Cup winners Blake Coleman and Trevor Lewis, Cup winner Tyler Toffoli and finalist Calle Jarnkrok in the last 10 months.
“We’ve brought in some guys this year that have been very successful in the playoffs and then we’ve got some guys that haven’t been very successful,” defenseman Noah Hanifin said.
“Having some of those older guys brings that calming presence, whether we’re down or up, it’s just ‘hey, like we’re good, we just keep playing our game’ and I think that’s been a great addition for us this year.”
The Flames are playing postseason games in front of rabid fans both at home and away for the first time since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic had them doing a lot of work in empty stadiums.
“It’s exciting because there are fans, right? That’s the best part,” Sutter said. “I don’t care if they throw beer at you or call you whatever.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 13, 2022.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
Reference-www.coastreporter.net