Nobody knows what’s going on behind the scenes. Some players could be struggling getting over Covid, and doing what they can with their body’s limited capabilities.
Short of that, it’s hard not to be harsh with a team that completely laid an egg against the Ottawa Senators last night, the 4-1 loss the team’s fourth in a row after winning two coming out of the Covid break.
Disjointed. Mental break downs. And a general lack of drive for the most part made beating any NHL franchise difficult.
Honestly reminded me a lot of Ottawa games last year where the team just didn’t show up.
They have a bit of a buffer with games in hand, but that will evaporate quickly if they don’t get back to what pushed them up the standings in the first place.
The Lineup
Hey the Flames are playing tonight! No seriously.
With 6 days off between games you might forget that the team had a bit of a face plant on the East Coast losing three straight games by lopsided scores to sunbelt teams near the top of the standings.
So it’s back to work tonight with some changes to the forward lines.
Elias Lindholm still centers Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk of course, that’s been a staple for all but a few minutes in Carolina over the past few months. The revolving door of combinations in the bottom nine see another mix up however. It’s Mikael Backlund between Blake Coleman and Tyler Pitlick, Dillon Dube back to center and lined up with Andrew Mangiapane and Brett Ritchie, and finally Sean Monahan between Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis.
Sutter continues to blend the talent along the bottom three lines which allows him to roll four lines, but lately has hurt the team’s secondary scoring.
On the blueline no change at all; Noah Hanifin with Ramus Andersson, Oliver Kylington with Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov with Erik Gudbranson.
In goal Jacob Markstrom returns to the starter net after allegedly tweaking something in the pregame skate in Carolina last week.
Line Metrics
xGF%
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk 62.4%
Coleman – Backlund – Pitlick 50.0%
Mangiapane – Dube – Ritchie 55.8%
Lucic – Monahan – Lewis 41.5%
Hanifin – Andersson 55.5%
Kylington – Tanev 56.3%
Zadorov – Gudbranson 57.4%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +8.2
Strange Start
If I was to grade the Flames first period it would be a D, but with an A start and a heavily weighted F to round out the period.
The Senators struck first but the goal came in the middle of the Flames run of domination to start the game, a frame that lasted about six minutes. But from there the Flames seemed to press, and the visitors settled in and completely took over the rest of the first period adding to their lead on a pretty nasty Mikael Backlund turnover.
Jacob Markstrom didn’t help things by giving up his first shot, but then the rest of the way he was pretty much on his own.
Would love to have heard what Darryl Sutter had to say between periods.
Didn’t Get Much Better
As frustrating as the outcome was overall, what made it worse was the lack of urgency in the second and third period to get themselves back in it.
They’d have stretches where they would generate a chance or two, but for the most part they just sleep walked their way to an inevitable loss once the Senators were up two.
When they went up three late in the second it was clearly over, an early Tkachuk goal in the third period creating some short lived intrigue that was taken again with a fourth Sen’s goal.
Not a Good Night for Backlund or Zadorov
The Flames weren’t sharp, and there was more than enough blame to go around.
But if you were to search out a melon for goat horns I think you’d have to look at one of Mikael Backlund or Nikita Zadorov.
Both turned the puck over on numerous occasions, and then they teamed up to gift the Sens their second goal essentially putting a dagger in the game.
Special Teams
I guess the Flames won the battle of the special teams as they killed off all three Ottawa chances, while failing to score on their only chance.
Not a banner night but they get the nod.
Standings and Record
The loss, Calgary’s fourth straight, takes the team under the magic .600 mark for the first time since October.
In terms of points they are on the outside looking in with 40 points in 34 games, a point back of the Sharks for the final wild card spot but with four games in hand. Looking at the Pacific they are three points back of the Kings with three games in hand and five points back of the Ducks with five games in hand.
Calgary is 6th in the Conference in win percentage.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 28 / Senators 34
Face Offs: Flames 52% / Senators 48%
Powerplay: Flames 0-1 / Senators 0-3
Fancy Stats
The Flames finished the night with somewhat respectable underlying numbers due to score effects, as the Senators were happy to coast home with a three goal third period lead. Five on five the Flames had 51% of the shot attempts with period splits of 43%/0% and 61% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 55%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 51%, with a 11-10 split.
In all situations the Flames had 50% of the shot attempts, 55% of the expected goals, and 54% of the high danger splits.
Individually, Matthew Tkachuk led the way for the Flames with a 64% split of five on five shot attempts on the night. Other guys in the 60s included Milan Lucic, Erik Gudbranson and Elias Lindholm. Johnny Gaudreau, Trevor Lewis, Oliver Kylington, Zadorov and Sean Monahan also had decent nights in the mid 50s. The middle six forwards were all miserable on the night, all coming in at less than 45%.
