The Saddledome has seen its share of playoff noise, but Game 6 against Vancouver in 2015 delivered the kind of chaos that sticks. Calgary came in needing one more win to advance, and instead spent most of the night digging out of an early hole before turning the building into a frenzy.
That victory carried extra weight because it ended a long drought. The Flames had won three playoff rounds in 2004 and reached the Stanley Cup Final, then went through the lockout, followed by four straight first-round exits, and then five seasons out of the post-season altogether. In 2014-15, they finally broke back through, built around a group that knew how to survive tight games.
The season was Brad Treliving’s first as general manager, with the roster still shaped by veterans left over from the rebuilding work under Jay Feaster and younger players Feaster had brought in. Calgary finished third in the Pacific Division and clinched its playoff spot with a gritty home win over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 81, a game that just missed the cut for this series.
Then came Vancouver. It was the first playoff meeting between the clubs since 2004, and the matchup had plenty of bite from the start.
The teams split the first two games in Vancouver, and Calgary’s Game 2 loss ended with a wild brawl that featured Deryk Engelland fighting two Canucks at once. The Flames took Games 3 and 4 at home, but the Canucks stayed alive with a 2-1 win in Game 5, sending the series back to Calgary.
What followed in Game 6 was a full-on roller coaster. Vancouver struck first through Brandon McMillan at 2:36 of the opening period, then added goals from Jannik Hansen and Radim Vrbata to build a 3-0 lead before the first intermission. Calgary answered late in the period with Micheal Ferland’s goal at 17:02, and the comeback started to gather steam from there.
Sean Monahan cut it to 3-2 just 1:02 into the second, and Johnny Gaudreau tied it at 5:35. Vancouver briefly reclaimed control when Luca Sbisa made it 4-3 at 10:36, but the Flames kept coming.
Jiri Hudler tied it on the power play at 6:14 of the third, Matt Stajan put Calgary ahead for the first time at 15:43, and Hudler added another empty-net goal at 19:31. Ferland finished the scoring at 19:57 to seal a 7-4 win.
The line score told the story of a game that kept lurching in every direction, but Calgary’s finish was ruthless. Hudler, Monahan, Gaudreau, Stajan and Ferland all played key roles, and the Flames turned a two-goal deficit into a four-goal victory in front of their home crowd.
Karri Ramo earned the win after allowing two goals on 19 shots, while Jonas Hiller was pulled 7:32 into the game after giving up two goals on three shots. Ryan Miller took the loss for Vancouver, allowing five goals on 31 shots.
The payoff was immediate. Calgary claimed its first playoff series win since 2004 and moved on to face the Anaheim Ducks, who won the Pacific and then beat the Flames in five games to reach the Western Conference Final. Even so, this game marked a turning point in the Brad Treliving era, with the Flames continuing to qualify for the post-season roughly every second season after that.
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