Deryk Engelland delivers potentially crucial point to Flames

The Dallas Stars were going to be the spoiler for the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night. The Stars had a 2-0 lead, blew it to the Calgary Flames, went up 3-2 late in the second period and then … let Deryk Engelland tie the game in the final 10 minutes of the third period to send the game to OT in a 4-3 shootout loss to Dallas.

Said Engelland per NHL.com

"Every point is going to count at the end."

"It's a tight battle with a lot of teams, so we'll take every point we can get. We're trying for two every night, but if you get one, we'll take it and go."

If the Kings miss the postseason by one point, they will be cursing the Stars and Deryk ‘freaking’ Engelland and his first two goals of the season up and down Southern California … until Orange County where they will rejoice. Even Kings celebrity super-fan Wil Wheaton was pissed:

Well, not really but it’s always fun to see Sheldon Cooper's arch nemesis go bonkers over his Kings. Also, there’s a lot of hockey left to be played in the race for the postseason.

Technically, the Stars didn’t really owe the Kings anything. They’re putting on their own playoff push – though they’re still six points back of Winnipeg for the Wild Card with eight games left.

And there’s hope in Big D … from Tyler Seguin in the same story.

"We were saying right before overtime, 'We're here for two points; we're not here for one.' It was a playoff-type game. They had momentum at times. We had momentum. I think both teams made some mistakes and both teams made some great plays. Obviously we're happy to walk away with both points."

Calgary players were jazzed for Engelland, a blueliner who had done practically zilch from an offensive statistic for them after (or before) signing a three-year $8.7 million contract for them last summer. But heroes come in all shapes and sizes.

From the Calgary Sun:

“(Engelland) was awesome,” said Flames left-winger Lance Bouma. “He got two huge goals for us, and that's a big point.

“I think everyone on the bench was really happy for him. He's such a good guy in the locker-room. He doesn't get a lot of credit for what he does out there, he always sticks up for his teammates, and it's just huge to see him get two goals like that.”

The Flames still got a point … but it seemed like a bit of a paper point for Calgary. Yes, they all count in the bank, but a Kings win at the Islanders on Thursday would put Los Angeles one ahead of Calgary.

That is Los Angeles’ game in hand. Also, a regulation victory would put the Kings one behind the Flames in regards to the regulation and overtime victory tiebreaker.

And, The Great Engelland continued:

"No matter if you score one or two or none, two points is what we need and coming down the stretch," Engelland said. "We'll take one but we needed that other one too."

The biggest 'two points' could come Thursday, April 9 against the Kings when they play at Los Angeles.

So really in some ways, Wesley Crusher, the Stars did their job. The Flames didn't win and the Kings could still pass them Thursday. This is turning into one pretty solid race when a guy like Engelland is turning into a quotable hero.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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