Roberto Luongo could make some friends in Calgary — a few at least — by beating the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night. (Getty Images file)

Calgary Flames fans will be glued to Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, grudgingly yelling something they might normally only do in a feverish, sweat-filled nightmare:

Go Canucks!

Yes, it has come to this. The Canucks (44-24-3) will host the Detroit Red Wings (34-23-13) at GM Place (CBC Sports, CBCSports.ca) in a contest that could go a long way to deciding the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Thanks to some help from their hated provincial rival Edmonton Oilers on Friday night (a 3-2 shootout win over the Wings), the Flames are tied for eighth in the conference with Detroit.

So now it's up to Vancouver, and thankfully that club has something real to play for.

The Canucks are pretty much home and cooled for a post-season berth, but wrapping up the Northwest division and gaining home-ice advantage for at least the first round is top of the to-do list.

Vancouver is five points up on second place Colorado with 11 games to go, so every one is key. Not to mention a big run to the wire could also still give the Canucks first overall in the conference as they sit five points off the top.

This is no time to give away points, as they did in a 5-2 loss to New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

"We wanted to bounce back," goalie and captain Roberto Luongo said two days later, after he backstopped a 3-2 win over San Jose. "We were disappointed with ourselves."

But beating the Sharks was just what the captain ordered.

"They are on top of the conference and a very good team and we came out, had a solid first period and really set the tempo."

Since the Olympic break the Canucks are 7-2-1 and humming along, but losing Mikael Samuelsson, line mate for Henrik and Daniel Sedin, was a blow they will have to endure.

The 30-goal scorer is out for another two weeks.

Wings hanging in there

Over to those aging Wings, who have struggled through this season after a Stanley Cup final loss to Pittsburgh last year.

Detroit needed a last second (actually 0.2 second) goal from Brian Rafalski to salvage a point against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night — a game they eventually lost in the shootout.

On the other hand, the Wings threw away a point to the worst team in the league. Coach Mike Babcock decided on the glass-half-full approach.

"That was a huge point for us," he said. "We have to feel good about that.

"The playoff race is a grind and you have to go out there and do the best you can every day. Anytime you leave it to the end like we have, you have to grind it out all the way."

After the trip to the Left Coast, the Wings head home for a three-game set that opens with the Penguins and continues with St. Louis and Minnesota.

Detroit has a game in hand on the Flames who are idle on Saturday. They play in Minnesota Sunday afternoon.