The Calgary Flames' playoff hopes are all but extinguished.
While not mathematically eliminated, Monday's loss to the Arizona Coyotes could very well be the final nail in the coffin for the Flames, who have now dropped four out of five and sit six points out of the wild-card picture with no games in hand.
Smith, along with defenseman Travis Hamonic, were brought to the Flames in the offseason to solidify the roster's most glaring holes. Smith, for his part, owns a sturdy .917 save percentage across 52 starts, but Calgary hasn't been able to put it together as a whole, particularly down the stretch.
"On paper, you look at our team and we should be a lot further ahead than we are," Smith told Wes Gilbertson of The Calgary Sun after Monday's game. "I think that's the frustrating part about this season and how it's gone is that we've underachieved by a lot."
Despite having a top-10 scorer in Johnny Gaudreau, a 30-goal season out of Sean Monahan, and one of the most reliable top pairings in hockey in Dougie Hamilton and Mark Giordano, the Flames own a goal differential of minus-18, and will have to spend yet another summer trying to identify the problem.
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