Arizona Coyotes vs Calgary Flames Picks and Predictions April 1st 2025

Flames, Utah HC Clash in Crucial Matchup with Playoff Hopes Flickering

SALT LAKE CITY — Both the Calgary Flames and the Utah Hockey Club enter Tuesday’s contest with their playoff dreams hanging by a thread. For Calgary, it’s a chance to keep applying pressure in the Western Conference wild-card race, while for Utah, it’s a desperate bid to keep postseason hopes alive on home ice.

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Flames Stay Resilient in Wild-Card Chase

Fresh off a thrilling 3-2 shootout win over Colorado, the Flames (35-26-12, 82 points) continue to lean on their resilience and internal belief to fuel a late-season push. Trailing by two goals in the third period against one of the NHL’s top teams, Calgary stormed back with clutch tallies from Ryan Lomberg and Blake Coleman before sealing the victory in the shootout.

Now riding a 5-1-1 stretch, Calgary sits five points behind St. Louis for the final wild-card spot with two games in hand. They’ll need to sustain their surge — and get some help from out-of-town scores — but the Flames remain steadfast.

“There’s no quit in this locker room,” Lomberg said. “We know we can beat anybody if we play the right way.”

Goaltender Dan Vladar, who continues to deliver solid performances in relief, echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the belief that permeates the room.

“We might not have the strongest team on paper,” Vladar said, “but we have the strongest team in our hearts.”

With nine games left, the Flames are treating every night as do-or-die — and Tuesday’s game in Salt Lake City is no exception.

Utah Opens Homestand Looking for Late Spark

Utah (33-29-12, 78 points) returned to the win column on Sunday with a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, snapping a three-game slide and restoring a sliver of hope. The club begins a five-game homestand needing a near-perfect finish — and some help — to stay in the hunt.

A disastrous 8-0 loss to Tampa last week was followed by a much more inspired showing in an overtime loss to Florida, a game coach Andre Tourigny pointed to as a momentum shift.

“We got embarrassed in Tampa,” forward Alexander Kerfoot said. “But that game in Florida was the kind of effort we need — even if we didn’t get the win, it was a step forward.”

Against Chicago, Utah simplified its approach, got bodies to the net, and finally broke through offensively after scoring just twice in the previous three games. Tourigny praised his team’s willingness to get greasy goals and pressure opposing goaltenders — something they’ll need to replicate against a desperate Flames squad.

Sitting nine points out with eight games left, the math is daunting. But the message inside the locker room is clear: fight to the end.

“All we can do is control what we can control,” Kerfoot said.

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What to Watch

Calgary has the momentum and a more realistic path to the postseason, but Utah’s physicality and desperation could make this a grind. The Flames will look to carry over the confidence from Monday’s comeback, while Utah tries to stack wins at home and avoid elimination.

With both teams likely to embrace a high-energy, playoff-style approach, this late-season clash could deliver plenty of urgency and emotion.