Calgary Puck

It’s tough to win in the National Hockey League when your best players aren’t your best players, and that becomes even more acute when the season rolls into the final quarter and teams ramp up their play.

The Flames carried the play for most of the night but didn’t get the big goal or big save they needed to put away a Blues team that was, for the most part, hanging on.

Great performances from the third pair and the fourth line kept the Flames in it with a chance to win but ultimately the core took the night off and the Flames went down in a 6-4 contest to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

The loss brings to a close a sub standard homestand that saw the Flames go 2-3-1 and tighten up the standings considerably as they head to California for a four game road trip.

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Take the point!

And glad I sold my tickets!

The Flames were not very good tonight, as they fought the puck, broke down often, and turned the puck over way too many times in a LA Kings come from behind 3-2 shoot out loss on Thursday night.

Good teams hit rough patches, and I’d think the last couple of games have certainly seen the Flames list a bit off their “A” game, and into a sputtering mess compared to what we’re used to.

But we’ve seen all the top teams sputter a bit in March, and it’s good to have some adversity now and not in the middle of a first round series.

Darryl Sutter will certainly have the room to make a point when they hit the ice and discuss things tomorrow.

Next up the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

Put this one in the rear view mirror.

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You just had that sinking feeling watching the third period didn’t you?

The Flames had played a solid game through 40 minutes but came out for the third and just looked unprepared. They turned pucks over, ran around in their own zone and gave the Avalanche too much room as they started to roll over their hosts.

Ultimately the sag created a powerplay and the powerplay created a game winner in a 2-1 Avalanche victory on Tuesday night. The Flames pushed hard for the final nine minutes and threw another ten shots on Darcy Kuemper, but the games first star was able to steer it home.

Next up the L.A. Kings on Thursday night.

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Well that was something wasn’t it?

Calgary had a rough first period and looked to be in some trouble with penalties early in the second before taking a tight game and turning it into what Kevin Bieka called a “beat down” in a 9-5 victory over the provincial rival Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

The Flames gave up three powerplay goals, and scored none with the man advantage themselves … a recipe that predictably would have resulted in a multi goal loss, but posted nine even strength goals in skating the Oilers into the ice and winning both ends of a weekend back to back.

Who was the tired team?

Next up Colorado on Tuesday night at the Dome.

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Sometimes you need to dance with the one that brought you, an old saying but a true one when it comes to the Flames top line and the offence they provide.

NHL coaches want a second look that they can roll out, and if you have some space in the standings to be able to experiment you do it.

But only to a point, and it looks like after the San Jose loss and a listless first period against Arizona that Darryl Sutter got to his breaking point and reverted back to his top line.

That’s all the Flames needed as said top line went off for three second period goals, two five on five, and another on a powerplay to turn a sleepy 0-0 game into a cruise home 4-2 victory for the Calgary Flames.

Next up Edmonton on Saturday night.

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