Well that’s seven in a row.
Hopefully this is shades of 1986 where the Calgary Flames lost 11 in a row but finished the season in the Stanley Cup Final against Montreal.
I guess we will see.
Tonight was pretty much the same for the Flames in all three of their starts on this trip; play well enough to win, but find a way to lose.
Calgary scored first, but trailed going into the third period but just couldn’t get it done.
Their next chance to snap the streak is against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night in Calgary.
Role the same game out that we saw in all three games on this trip and they win nine of ten times.
Trust the process right?
The Lineup
With Chris Tanev and Jonathan Huberdeau both expected out tonight, the Flames are going with the same lineup of skaters that they walked out in Jersey.
Elias Lindholm between Tyler Toffoli and Adam Ruzicka; will a second game with skill help him settle in? He was pretty good in his first audition. Nazem Kadri with Blake Coleman and Dillon Dube, Mikael Backlund with Andrew Mangiapane and Trevor Lewis, and finally the only in tact line; Kevin Rooney with Milan Lucic and Brett Ritchie.
On the blueline it’s Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson, Nikita Zadorov and Mackenzie Weegar, and then the newbies, Dennis Gilbert with Mark DeSimone.
Dan Vladar gets the start in his second return to Boston.
Line Metrics
xGF%
Ruzicka – Lindholm – Toffoli 78.6%
Coleman – Kadri – Dube 60.6%
Mangiapane – Backlund – Lewis 82.0%
Lucic – Rooney – Ritchie 48.5%
Hanifin – Andersson 51.0%
Zadorov – Weegar 63.0%
Gilbert – DeSimone 87.0%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +2.0
Vladar -3.6
Trend Tracker:
Shouldn’t make too much out of the stats above with the very limited sample sizes due to injuries … With that said; good to see a boost from the Hanifin/Andersson pairing as they are back on the plus side. … The Zadorov/Weegar pairing has impressed and now with some building time to back it up. … Markstrom had his goals saved above average stripped down again with the Devil’s game. … All three top nine forward lines had a decent night in Jersey.
Poor Start
Yeah tongue in cheek.
In Queens the Flames went 12 minutes without a shot against.
In New Jersey they went 11 minutes.
Tonight they only made it 8 minutes before the Bruins got their first shot on net … so a weak start relatively speaking.
But an amazing trip to start three straight games and 31 minutes total without giving up a shot on goal.
Game of Inches
How about those two point blank – no doubt about it – just put it in – chances by the Calgary Flames in the second period?
First Andrew Mangiapane gets a rebound off a Mikael Backlund shot and hits the side of the net short side. Easy goal. Nope.
Then Tyler Toffoli gets a point blank tip opportunity with a yawning cage and an easy goal. Nope.
Calgary goes scoreless in the second period and then Charlie McAvoy finds the net for a Bruins lead.
Vladar Solid
Can’t take a thing away from Dan Vladar in his start.
He was great.
The Flames only gave up five high chances five on five all night, but Vladar was rock solid in providing backbone goaltending on the road.
But the Flames’ finish wasn’t enough to give him the run support he deserved.
Special Teams
Neither team scored a powerplay goal, but with six chances the Flames were given more than enough opportunities to win the game with a powerplay goal. They just couldn’t get it done.
So great on the penalty kill. No go on the powerplay.
At least they stopped the giving up a powerplay goal every night skid.
Standings and Record
The Flames are now a point out of a playoff spot and starting to dig themselves a hole.
They’re only a point out, so it’s not a tragic situation but now what the city was thinking when the team got off to a 5-1-0 start.
Best be ending this skid as soon as possible.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 32 Bruins 28
Face Offs: Flames 32% / Bruins 68%
Powerplay: Flames 0-6 / Bruins 0-5
Fancy Stats
Really odd road trip. Great starts in all three games. Score first in all three games. Win the battle of the underlying stats in all three games, but find a way to lose all three games and only get one point. Tonight the Flames were full marks for their start in all three periods, and their game overall, but somehow found a way to lose another one. Freakishly like 1986. Five on five the Flames had 65% of the shot attempts with period splits of 68%/60% and 63% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 48%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 50%, with a 5-5 split.
In all situations the Flames had 57% of the shot attempts, 51% of the expected goals, and 48% of the high danger splits.
Individually the Flames were led by Andrew Mangiapane with an xGF% of 94% five on five on the night. Nikita Zadorov and Mackenzei Weegar continue their dominant run by also being in the 90s. Mikael Backlund was in the 80s. On the bottom end Rasmus Andersson, Blake Coleman, and Noah Hanifin were terrible, all under 20%
