The Calgary Flames clinched their first playoff berth in six seasons by eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings with a 3-1 win Thursday night. The Vancouver Canucks also return to the post-season after missing out on the action a year ago – and now these two great Canadian reclamation projects will meet each other in the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Canucks hold home-ice advantage for the series.
Here’s a look at how the two teams match up.
(P2) vs. 
(P3)
***All games available in Punjabi on OMNI
G1 Wed., April 15 Calgary @ Vancouver, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G2 Fri., April 17 Calgary @ Vancouver, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G3 Sun., April 19 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G4 Tues., April 21 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G5* Thurs., April 23 Calgary @ Vancouver, TBD CBC
G6* Sat., April 25 Vancouver @ Calgary, TBD CBC
G7* Mon., April 27 Calgary @ Vancouver, TBD CBC
• Play-by-play: Jim Hughson; Game Analysts: Craig Simpson; Reporter: Scott Oake
• Mark Spector and Thomas Drance cover the series for sportsnet.ca
• OMNI (Punjabi): Play-by-play: Harnarayan Singh; Game Analysts: Randip Janda, Bhupinder S. Hundal
• Calgary Radio: all games available on Sportsnet 960 The FAN
• GamePlus features available in Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE
VANCOUVER CANUCKS: 47-29-5. 5th in Western Conference
CALGARY FLAMES: 45-29-7. 6th in Western Conference
Head-to-head:
Vancouver: 2-2-0
Calgary: 2-1-1
Last game played head-to-head: Calgary beat Vancouver 3-2 at home on Valentine’s Day as Sean Monahan recorded two goals.
LEADING SCORERS
Vancouver: Daniel Sedin (72 pts), Henrik Sedin (69), Radim Vrbata (61).
Calgary: Jiri Hudler (76), Johnny Gaudreau (64), Sean Monahan (62).
ADVANCED STATS
Vancouver: 5on5CF% – 49.5; 5on5Sv% – .916; 5on5Sh% – 7.61; PDO = 99.2
Calgary: 5on5CF% – 44.4; 5on5Sv% – .922; 5on5Sh% – 8.96; PDO = 101.2
(via stats.hockeyanalysis.com)
PAST 10 GAMES
Vancouver: 6-3-1
Calgary: 6-2-2
LAST TIME THEY MET IN THE PLAYOFFS: In 2004, the sixth-seeded Calgary Flames knocked off the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks in a seven-game series. Vancouver won Game 6 on the road in the third overtime, but Calgary recovered to take Game 7 in overtime as Martin Gelinas scored his first winner in Calgary’s run to the final. The last three times the Flames and Canucks have met in the post-season, the winner went to the Stanley Cup final.
VANCOUVER’S HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR
Nick Bonino puts the moves on Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Michael Del Zotto for a spin-o-rama goal en route to a 4-0 win in January.
CALGARY’S HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR
Johnny Gaudreau scores two goals in 16 seconds to help the Flames to a 3-0 lead midway through the first period and chased Viktor Fasth from the net in a December game.
KEY INJURIES
Vancouver: Zack Kassian (day-to-day: back), Brad Richardson (day-to-day: ankle).
Calgary: Mark Giordano (IR: torn biceps), Ladislav Smid (IR: neck), Paul Byron (day-to-day: lower body), Karri Ramo (day-to-day: leg), Lance Bouma (day-to-day: upper body).
