Don’t let a third period push fool you, the Flames were far from good on this night.
25.5 hours earlier the Flames were full marks for a well played road game in Dallas, a contest where they couldn’t solve Ben Bishop. Tonight however, the Flames were lucky to be up 2-0 in the second and very much deserving of getting filled in with four straight Avalanche goals in the second.
Sure they pushed hard in the third period, but the Avalanche ran them over in the third period and were much deserving of a 5-2 win on Wednesday night.
The Flames return home for one game and then it’s off on the road again.
Stewart and the Stars
On the telecast tonight it was mentioned that the Dallas Stars had also put in a claim for Chris Stewart when he was available from the Minnesota Wild on Sunday afternoon.
The Flames had one less point than the Stars so they had priority in the rankings and got the player.
Bizarre Lineup Choices
Tonight Chris Stewart was in a decidedly different situation as he patrolled the fourth line with Matt Stajan and surprise starter Tanner Glass, up from Stockton.
The original plan was to go with Nick Shore, but the pivot arrived from Buffalo with the flu and had to sit out.
Mark Jankowski centered Troy Brouwer and Garnet Hathway, leaving the first two lines in tact from the third period in Dallas.
More Penalty Trouble
The Flames once again take five plus penalties including six through the first two periods in Denver tonight. That has to stop.
The NHL average is in and around three minor penalties a night so doubling that up not only gives the opposition too many opportunities, it also disrupts a team’s four line flow and puts a damper on the game plan.
Most Inconsistently Called Penalty
Will never understand the instigator penalty.
This season we’ve seen two examples where a Flame’s player is wiped out and then a retaliation leads to an even up situation.
Tonight Tanner Glass earns a charging penalty on Siemen, but in the aftermath Sieman slashes Glass and then starts a fight but doesn’t get anything but the five minute major for fighting.
They have to find consistently on this call; it never makes sense.
Tkachuk Turning Point
Not sure I would say the Flames were cruising, but they were up two goals when Matthew Tkachuk took a needless penalty driving the head of an Avalanche player into the head as he lingered on top of him after a hit.
I like Tkachuk’s game, and he’s a huge gain in penalty calls most nights, and he’s been able to find that line more often than not.
Tonight though he went over it, and the result was a massive change in momentum and a four goal swing.
Rough Night For Officials
Having said that, this wasn’t a banner night for officials.
They missed a Blake Comeau spearing penalty when he retaliated on Tkachuk in the first period for pushing him over his goaltender; that was a no brainer.
They missed the instigator penalty from Siemens on Glass.
They were a little too quick on the bench minor to Glen Gulutzan.
And the embellishment and then ten minute misconduct penalty to Johnny Gaudreau for getting a stick in the throat was indefensible, and pretty much proof of the referee union still being pissed at the little guy for his antics after calls.
If you get a stick in the throat you’re allowed to react. He didn’t even break his stride. Terrible call, made even worse by the thin skin to the reaction for the original bad call.
Standings Implications
A missed opportunity. With a two goal lead in the middle of the second period and most of their rivals tucked into their bunk beds it’s a shame.
Bottom line the Flames are back of more and more teams as the grind goes on.
They are eight games over .500 compared to the Blues at +9, the Avalanche and Ducks at +10, the Kings at +11, and the Sharks and Stars at +13.
They’ll need to get to +14 by the end of the season to have a chance and that’s six games over in just 17 games or 11-5-1.
Giddy up
Fancy Stats
I took a lot of heat for the game story last night and the underlying stats vs the eye test. Last night I saw a team with a solid road game but zero finish in a 2-0 loss.
Tonight I’m not so sure they line up all that well.
The independent counting has the Flames with 61% of the shot attempts and 71% of the scoring chances, but the game just didn’t have that feel. Some bad discipline, some iffy goaltending, some stretches of indifferent play and a lot of mistakes certainly overtakes the final numbers.
The Calgary splits by period five on five were 58 / 41 / 69 and 50 / 41 / 71 in all situations.
Individually, only three players were under the 50% mark on the night including; Michael Stone, TJ Brodie and Travis Hamonic. Tanner Glass led the way if you want to discard sample size as he had 80% of shot attempts in only six minutes of ice time. Past Glass, Dougie Hamilton, Chris Stewart and Matt Stajan were all in the 70s, Tkachuk, Giordano, Brett Kulak, Mikael Backlund, Michael Frolik and Sam Bennett were all in the 60s.
