The Calgary Flames aren't going to make the playoffs. We know this. You know this. They know this. The St. Louis Blues are a team that has dreams of the Stanley Cup, and they're headed for the playoffs. Tonight's game at the Saddledome was a meeting between the third-best and third-worst teams in the National Hockey League's overall standings.
But the Flames pumped the brakes on the whole "tanking" talk for one night and played like a team that deserved to be higher in the standings. They were crisp, opportunistic and then defended fairly well en route to a 7-4 victory tonight that featured multi-point performances from arguably the team's five most important players.