GLENDALE, Ariz. — On a scorching hot day in the desert, the Calgary Flames could finally see that coveted playoff position just over the ridge.

With a victory over the Phoenix Coyotes, the Flames could claim sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference.

The Flames entered Thursday outside a playoff spot since March 18, 2011, a total of 333 days.

Make it 334 after the Flames fell 2-1 in overtime to the Phoenix Coyotes thanks in no small part to a Mikael Backlund tripping penalty in the offensive zone. That put Phoenix on a 4-on-3.

Playing up high, Blair Jones blocked a point shot and could barely put any weight on his right foot.

That effectively made it a 4-on-2.

"Time went by, and I still couldn't take a stride," Jones said. "I was kind of stranded."

With Jones stranded, Ray Whitney passed to a wide open Shane Doan. The Coyotes captain ripped a shot past Flames goalie Leland Irving to seal the Phoenix victory.

"I knew what was going to happen," Jones said. "I could see what was developing. I only had one leg. I was leaning on my stick just trying to take away Whitney's shot at the top. I couldn't get to Doan."

Couldn't get to Doan. Couldn't preserve the chance for Irving to record his second win of the season.

Give the rookie credit. After surrendering a weak goal to Tyler Pyatt in the early-going, Irving steadied himself en route to a 33-save performance.

"You never want to get beat through the five-hole," he said. "So I wasn't happy with that one.

"But overall, you have to be happy with it. After that goal, I thought I settled things down and gave us a chance. Got us a point

"Obviously, it's not enough."

After a scoreless second period, Olli Jokinen tied the game four minutes into the third period with a smart deflection in front of a Mark Giordano blast from the point.

Don`t look now, but Jokinen leads the Flames in scoring with 46 points — two more than Jarome Iginla.

Iginla inadvertently wounded his linemate late in the first period when a centring attempt deflected off a stick and smoked Alex Tanguay in the nose right under the visor.

With blood dripping all over the ice, Tanguay threw off his gloves and grabbed his face as he retreated to the dressing room for repairs.

The slick playmaker returned in the second period with a facial laceration protected by a full mask. He didn't play in the third due to swelling that reduced the vision in one eye.

As the game went on, Irving did an admirable job of pulling it together under pressure. He stood tall on the lip of his crease to deny former Flame Daymond Langkow from the high slot and got the paddle down to stop Raffi Torres on a Phoenix power play.

In overtime, he stuck out the right pad to stop Whitney on his bid for the game-winner.

With 2:53 left in the extra period, Backlund hooked Langkow behind the Phoenix net.

"Obviously, I didn't mean to take a penalty," a dejected Backlund said. "It's really frustrating. I hate letting the team down like that."

Regardless, Flames must take the single point and carry on. Heading home for a Saturday with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary sits tied with Minnesota and Dallas for ninth place in the Western Conference — two points back of the Coyotes.

The Flames gained four of a possible six points on this three-game road swing.

"Unfortunately, we took a penalty 200 feet from our net- a tripping penalty — in overtime," said Flames coach Brent Sutter. "It's a point we could have had that we let get away from us. But the positive is that we got a point.

"We found a way to come back on the road in the third game in four nights. But the thing is you don't like giving up points like that. That's the negative."

Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett was hardly overjoyed with his team's performance, but . . .

"It was not a pretty game at all," he said. "So we'll take those points, stick those in the bank and move on."

Calgary Herald

vhall(at)calgaryherald.com