'Focus On This One'

ST. LOUIS - Playoffs In January?

Not quite, but there’s no doubt this two-games-in-three-days set against the St. Louis Blues has a different feel to it.

The Flames are sitting in the second Western Conference Wildcard berth, while the Blues are chasing a postseason spot, sitting three points behind Calgary but having played two more games.

St. Louis won the first game of this series 2-1 Tuesday night and will have all the motivation and then some to to try annd make it two straight tonight (6 p.m. MTN, Sportsnet).

The Flames, though, will be plenty motivated themselves.

“It’s as close as you get to playoffs within the regular season,” said Head Coach Ryan Huska after the Flames morning skate at the Enterprise Center Thursday. “You can try to find a way to engage your team a little bit differently, I think, in these situations.

“So we didn’t get the first one, now it’s priority for us to focus on this one.”

While it’s a little much to throw out the overused cliché of ‘must-win,’ it’s clear every player to a man inside the team’s dressing room knows the importance of this tilt.

“It’s an eight-point trip,” said Blake Coleman. “We’ve got to find a way to even up their little homestand, here, and take half the points.

“Then we get out of here with no harm, no foul.”

Because the Flames are all too aware that while they try and chase down teams ahead of them to climb the standings, they are being pursued by those behind desperate to make up ground in the playoff chase.

“We’re pushing to get higher up in the standings, they’re doing the same,” said blueliner Rasmus Andersson, who will play in his 499^th game tonight. “We’re pretty close to each other.

"If we can win tonight, it’s going to separate them a little bit more. So that’s our aim tonight, have a good start and just take it from there.”

“Obviously there’s a lot on the line, still is tonight,” echoed Coleman. “We’re all aware of the stakes of the games. I think that one left a pretty sour taste in our mouth just because of what it means right now, and the spot that we’re in.

"These are the kind of games you want to be playing right now. We’ll be ready.”

Colton Parayko scored just 49 seconds into the game Tuesday, with Kevin Bahl tying it up at 6:06 of the third period. But Radek Faksa would tip the game-winner home at 11:11.

Calgary had opened this four-game road trip with a 5-2 victory in Chicago over the Blackhawks on Monday night.

They had a day off Wednesday, one that was welcome for a physical and mental break before tonight’s game and Saturday’s roadie wrapper in Winnipeg against the Jets.

The Flames continue their quest to improve their play away from the Scotiabank Saddledome, with a 7-9-4 away record from the friendly confines of home.

“There is priority or urgency on our part to make sure we do things the right way, to put ourselves in a position to win,” said Huska. “We have to get our road record up to the .500 area if we want to get to where we want to be at the end of the year.

"So, you drop that first one, there has to be a sense of urgency coming into the second one.”