If the Calgary Flames are going to actually pull this off, defy the odds and surpass every expectation by booking themselves a spot in the playoffs in the spring, they’re going to need unlikely heroes to step up.
They’re going to need guys like Joel Hanley to seize whatever opportunities present themselves.
And with the game tied as the clock ticked down in a must-win matchup with the San Jose Sharks (15-36-7) on Sunday night, Hanley put on his cape and delivered the heroics.
His top-shelf snipe with less than seven minutes to go sealed a 3-2 win for the Flames (27-21-8) and pulled them to within one point of the Vancouver Canucks, who still sit in the Western Conference’s second Wild Card spot after falling to the Utah Hockey Club.
An unlikely hero? You bet.
Hanley is relied on by the Flames for a lot of things these days, but scoring goals isn’t one of them. It was his first of the year and the first game-winning goal of his career, too.
“That’s his first game-winner? That’s awesome,” said Flames centre Nazem Kadri who opened the scoring for his team earlier in the night. “When that happens to a guy like that, it just fires you up. It couldn’t happen to a better guy.
“When you have unsung heroes, it really energizes the group and makes us want to win for them even more for those guys because they got on (the) board.”
Picked up on waivers last March, Hanley was in-and-out of the lineup through the first two months of 2024-25 but has emerged as a fixture since late-December.
He’s a reliable presence on the blueline, but isn’t asked to carry the offensive load very often – if ever – for the Flames.
That’s exactly why Sunday’s goal felt so significant. On a night when the Flames weren’t firing on all cylinders but desperately needed two points, he crept in from the blueline and ripped one into the back of the net.
It was a big goal for the Flames and a big goal for the 33-year-old Hanley, too, who had missed the team’s last game to be there while his wife gave birth to their second child, a healthy daughter named Millie.
“The baby’s healthy and the team won, so it feels great,” Hanley said. “It felt unreal, it was great. Obviously, I don’t score a lot so whenever I can contribute offensively it feels really good.”
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s win:
BEST THEY’VE BEEN IN A WHILE
Hanley wasn’t the only unlikely offensive hero for the Flames on Sunday. Kevin Rooney also pitched in with his fourth of the season in the second period.
It was obviously an important goal, but it was also a rightful reward for a solid night of effort from the Flames’ fourth-line.
The trio of Rooney, Martin Pospisil and Ryan Lomberg generated consistent pressure and opportunities throughout the night, something they hadn’t done in some time.
“I thought this was their best game as a whole in a long time so hopefully that’s something we keep seeing,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska.
Getting more scoring from their depth players has been a point of emphasis for the Flames this year, so it was certainly encouraging to see the fourth-line step up.
The rest of their forwards, with the exception of Kadri, weren’t especially effective against the Sharks and will need to be much better on the seven-game road-trip that kicks off Tuesday night against the Washington Capitals.
“We do rely on our top guys a lot to generate,” Huska said. “Kads scored tonight but they’re not going to do it every night, so those are situation where you do need people to step up and we do feel we have a team that is capable of doing that.
“Kads and (Jonathan Huberdeau) played 22 or 23 minutes tonight and that’s too much. They won’t say that but I say that. You do need other players to contribute at different times.”
ALMOST EXPECTED
It says a lot about Dustin Wolf’s performances for the Flames this season that is almost doesn’t feel notable when he comes up with a couple big saves that were probably the difference in a game.
That’s exactly what happened on Sunday night, though.
“You know if there’s a mistake that’s made, most likely, he’s going to make that save for you,” Huska explained.
Wolf saved 27-of-29 shots against the Sharks. He’s had plenty of games when he’s been called upon to stop more, but he came up huge when he was needed on Sunday and that shouldn’t go unremarked upon.
“Awesome. Unbelievable,” Kadri said. “Wolfie made some very, very timely saves today. Even though it wasn’t a huge volume, there were some crucial saves he made and he stood on his head. He expects that out of himself and did a great job.”
THE HEAT TURNS UP
With 10 minutes left in Sunday’s game, there was a strong possibility that the night could have looked a whole lot worse for the Flames.
They were tied at the time against a team they really should beat, while the Canucks and Utah were in a deadlock, too.
If things had gone differently, the Flames could have wound up trailing the Flames in the playoff race by five points. Instead, it’s only one.
The Flames aren’t denying that they’re scoreboard watching, either.
“Buddy, we were doing that two months ago,” Kadri said when he was asked about checking out-of-town scores. “Where’ve you been?”
It ended up being a very good night for the Flames, but there’s no question they’ll need to be a lot better against some very tough opponents on their upcoming road-trip.
Their performance Sunday won’t be good enough against some of the Eastern Conference’s top teams.
“We found a way to get a win tonight at the end of the night, but the pace we play at has to go way up from what we saw tonight, so does the physical attachment to the game,” Huska said.