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Canucks host Flames in season finale

Apr 5, 2008 - 2:51 PM Calgary (41-30-10) at Vancouver (39-32-10) 10:00 pm EDT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) - A slip up by the Vancouver Canucks has rendered Saturday's season finale against the Calgary Flames meaningless for the home team.

Vancouver, which won the Northwest Division last season, lost six of its last seven games and was eliminated from postseason contention on Thursday after a 2-1 loss to Edmonton.

The Canucks offense failed them down the stretch, as they scored just 15 goals in their last seven games.

"I think we haven't been a sharp team when it counted," said captain Markus Naslund, who could be playing his last game in Vancouver along with fellow fan-favorite Trevor Linden.

The faces of the franchise for two decades, Naslund is a pending free agent and Linden has hinted at retirement.

"It's disappointing to everyone, obviously," Linden said. "The opportunity to compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs is a privilege, and every chance you get is a chance to do what you want to do. So to miss out on that is very disappointing."

Had the Canucks beaten the Oilers, it would have set up an elimination game against the Flames on Saturday. But Calgary, which lost 3-1 to division champion Minnesota Wild on Thursday, clinched a playoff berth by virtue of Vancouver's loss.

Instead of preparing for a do-or-die game, the Flames will try to improve their playoff seeding in the Western Conference.

Calgary trails Colorado (43-31-7) by one point for the sixth seed. The Avalanche close the season by hosting the Wild on Sunday.

Captain Jarome Iginla is one shy of notching his second career 50-goal season.