'RAISE OUR LEVEL OF PLAY'

They have to be better.
They know it.
And they've owned it.
With eight games left in the regular season, the Flames are looking to get their 'team game' dialled in for Night 1 of the playoffs.
What we saw Thursday? Well… That wasn't it.
"We need to raise our level of play," Erik Gudbranson said at this morning's pre-game skate. "That's a team (Vegas) that's fighting to get in the playoffs, and a team that's managed their playoff series' over the past few years very well.
"We play like that in the playoffs, it's going to be a quick exit.
"Definitely a wake-up call."

It officially went down as a 6-1 loss. The Golden Knights - three points out of a postseason berth entering the night - clawing their way back to full health and showing what type of team they can be when desperation, urgency and emotion kicks in.
The 45-20-9 Flames have played that way for a good chunk of the season, and with a single point tonight (OR a regulation win by Edmonton, OR a Columbus win in any fashion over the LA Kings), the locals will punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
UPDATE AT 4:45 P.M. MT:

Whether it happens in either of the above scenarios tonight, or will have to wait another day or two, the Flames are headed to the dance.
Full stop.
From October to April, they've been the aggressor and the leader.
It's only a matter of time before the engine is back purring at full song.
"Certainly, what you want to do is be playing your best hockey going into the playoffs," Gudbranson said. "If we get there and are not at our best, we're there and we've got to figure it out really quick. It's the playoffs. Those inches and those little gaps in play have to be fixed really quick.
"We've got to get our game straightened out here.
"Big time.
"We definitely want to be going in there going on all cylinders."
The Flames have a great chance to get back on track tonight against the Arizona Coyotes.
They key? Don't sit back.
Dictate.
Initiate the pace, win battles and be relentless.
"It's a combination of things all over the ice," Gudbranson explained. "You can look at advanced analytics, or you can see if somebody comes into my corner, nine times out of 10, if I come out with the puck and create a play, that's us dictating the play. If we dump a puck in and nine times out of 10 or 10 times out of 10, we're the ones coming out with the puck, that's us dictating the play.
"It's pretty simple stuff.
"Even them coming through the neutral zone, if we're able to create more turnovers from them entering our zone, that's us dictating the play.
"We were doing it beforehand and we need to get back to that because we're a very good hockey team when we do that."

FAREWELL TO A LEGEND

On Friday, the hockey world said goodbye to one of the greatest goal-scorers and finest gentlemen of all time.
Mike Bossy passed away at the age of 65.
Flames Associate Coach Kirk Muller shared some memories of the Hall-of-Fame forward following the morning skate:
"I broke into the league in Jersey and was coming in watching them (the New York Islanders) win all those Stanley Cups. My first game as a New Jersey Devils was against the Islanders, and lining up against Trottier and Gillies and Mike Bossy. It was a pretty amazing feeling when you're young and 18 playing against these legends and Hall of Famers.
"I had the real honour of playing with him in an all-star game, him and Trottier. I remember that's always a great memory of me with Mike, because I respected him a lot. Got to know him in Montreal over the years as a player and person. Very humble. But as a player, what an elite goal-scorer. He could score in so many different ways. To score goals in this league is one thing, but to score over longevity (sic) is another, and he was the epitome of a great goal-scorer."

HOWLIN' FOR YOU

It's quite the contrast, going from playing the high-powered Vegas Golden Knights one night, to the last-place and injury-riddled Arizona Coyotes the next.
But for these Flames, the focus remains the same.
"When you play a team… If they do play loose, they gamble more than normal, so you've got to take away those high-risk opportunities that they'll get," Muller said. "They have really mobile defencemen, so it's something that we, as a team, have to get better at - (eliminating) the chances we're giving up off the rush a bit more.
"We've got to be aware of some of their skilled players.
"There's a lot of pride in this NHL; every team, every player. You have to get up for every game and like I said earlier, we have to really focus on our group tonight and get our game going."