Calgary Flames struggling against Central Division this season

It has been well-documented plenty of times already this season that the Calgary Flames have struggled. They sit at the basement of the NHL. Even with them going on a little bit of a run as of late, they are still nowhere near a playoff spot, as we are almost at the holidays.

The Flames have had a tough time with almost everyone in the NHL thus far. But nothing has been more glaring than how they have fared against Central Division opponents this season. It has been a grind, and they have looked lifeless against that division all season long. It reflects their record as a whole as to why they have struggled as much as they have so far in 2025–26.

Central Division teams dominate the Flames

The Flames have lost 19 games this season, including both overtime and shootout losses. 11 of those losses have come against Central teams. Their record against the division stands at 3–10–1. This is obviously not good enough if you want to be a playoff team, which the Flames were trying to be coming into this season. It is obvious that most of the games they have played this season have come against the Central Division. When you aren’t a great team, the record will look poor regardless. However, it is pretty astonishing to see how much they have struggled against the Central. And it has really been the same story over the last few seasons.

The Colorado Avalanche are the only team the Flames have yet to play against from the Central Division. Looking at the individual losses, it shows that the Flames do not have the star power that other teams have. The two losses to Chicago, in particular, were eye-opening. Connor Bedard single-handedly took the Flames down as he had seven points in just those two games. Crazy what a superstar can do for a team.

The Flames were also taken down easily twice by both the Nashville Predators and the St. Louis Blues, with whom they have been battling for the oh-so-elusive last-place spot in the entire league. So, it hasn’t just been superstars and great teams beating down on the Flames. It has been some of the worst teams as well. Not great.

Saturday’s win was a good start

The Flames in the last couple of weeks have done relatively well against the Central. They took down the powerhouse Dallas Stars in a shootout, they defeated the Minnesota Wild, who have been surging, and on Saturday night, they beat the struggling Utah Mammoth.

Those are the only three wins they have taken against the Central division this season. In between all of this was a beatdown they took against the Nashville Predators, who sit below them in the standings.

However, even with that loss, they have been playing the Central opponents a bit better as of late. Now, will that continue over the course of this year? I am not exactly sure, but in the future, when this team hopefully becomes competitive once again, they cannot struggle this much against one division, or it will sink them over a season.

Right now, it doesn’t entirely matter, as the Flames have probably locked themselves into the bottom ten of the league at a minimum right now. It is something, however, to keep an eye on as this year and the next few years go on.