A 4-0 deficit in the third period, on the road?
Most teams might be thinking about slinking out of town, without further physical or emotional damage.
The Calgary Flames, as they often do in the nick of time, turned up the heat.
With four goals in a 10-minute span against the Ottawa Senators, the Flames forced overtime, before losing in a shoot-out on Sunday.
It was a valuable point, but also a reminder that Calgary – normally an NHL afterthought – will not go down quietly this year.
“It was a good comeback,” veteran centre Mikael Backlund told NHL.com.
“There’s been so many, it’s hard to rate it.”
In fact, no team has more than the 10 wins the Flames have collected when trailing after two periods.
The ability to rally has kept the Flames alive in the post-season, and perched in third place in the Pacific Division.
Realistically, though, they are locked in a mass brawl with seven other Western Conference teams for the bottom four play-off spots.
If Calgary can hold on, they will be a post-season team for the first time since 2009.
They also will be seeking their first play-off series win since advancing to the Stanley Cup finals and losing in 2004.
Coach Bob Hartley reiterated during their recent seven-game road trip (4-2-1) that these Flames always had play-off aspirations.
“We’ve said it since day one and we believe it,” Hartley said.
Sceptics still point out that the Flames are a statistical anomaly. For example, the team are ranked 28th in Corsi (a measure of scoring chances generated versus scoring chances allowed).
Goaltenders Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo have been sharing time, mostly because neither has been particularly strong.
Before the season began, it was projected as another tread-water year, while the team got younger and put ice time in the bank.
The future seemed more focused on prospects, like their No 4 pick in the 2014 draft, Sam Bennett.
Even that would require patience, since a shoulder injury kept the 18-year-old centre sidelined until last month, when he finally took the ice for the Kingston Frontenacs.
Instead, the Flames kept everyone entertained at home.
Led by veteran centre Jiri Hudler, 31, and gritty defenceman Mark Giordano, 31, with sooner-than-expected breakout seasons from left wing Johnny Gaudreau, 21, and centre Sean Monahan, 20, the Flames moved into contention and stayed there.
Hudler paces the team with 56 points, while Monahan is the top goalscorer with 24.
The challenges, of course, do not relent – Giordano tore a tendon in his bicep last month and is done for the season.
Pundits quickly generated “it was fun while it lasted” chatter, and expected the team to fall off a cliff.
Since Giordano’s injury, however, the Flames are 3-1-1, including successive victories in three of the NHL’s most intimidating venues – Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit.
The Flames are not home free, yet, but their post-season chase and their flair for the dramatic have made it an entertaining – and hopeful – season.
Even Bennett’s minor league debut has been rosy, registering 11 points in his first six games.
“The magic tricks – it doesn’t run out, it seems,” Hartley said in an interview with the Calgary Sun recently.
“The rabbits keep popping out.”
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