Sustainability has been the big catch word surrounding the Calgary Flames for most of November, and honestly most did feel the Flames hot start was bound to slow up though possibly not cool off completely.
Winning when the underlying stats suggest you should be losing was clicking on borrowed time, but who’d a thunk the Flames would not only fail to sustain winning, but also getting out played.
A tough start, but a decent finish had the Flames come up empty for the fourth game in a row, this time a 3-1 loss to the Crosby-less Penguins.
The Flow
Calgary came out with jump actually, but a first shift turn over by captain Mark Giordano created an odd man rush and a quick 1-0 lead. The Pens doubled their lead soon after when a point shot hit Letang and deflected by Hiller. They could have shut it down, but instead it was a Pittsburgh powerplay that pushed some starch back into the Flames sales, through a chance by Brodie and a then another failed break away attempt by Paul Byron. Later in the period the Flames get on the board when Hudler and Granlund conspire to set up Johnny Gaudreau with a rebound goal for his 6th of the season.
The second period was scoreless, but once again not a great one for the Flames. Bad decisions, little flow, taking too many needless penalties, the beat just went on and on. Calgary was 0-4 on the powerplay through two periods and down in shots 14-9, one of the most consistently on their heels 40 minutes we’ve seen from this crew in quite some time.
The Flames used a strong first shift, and an early powerplay to push the game forcibly back in their favour to start the third, out shooting the Penguins 5-0 to start the period but failing to covert. Towards the end of the frame the Flames had an 11-2 shot edge but just couldn’t get a clean puck past Fleur to tie the game. The Pens put it away when Klinkhammer converted a chance with less than three minutes to play.
Three Stars
1.Kris Letang:Had no idea a shorter quaff would make a hockey player more physical, but that seems to be the case with Letang who was dominant tonight including the game winner.
2.Johnny Gaudreau: Scores Calgary’s only goal and was the key figure in any chances the Flames did manage.
3.Marc Andre Fleury: I guess we will see at playoff time, but the recently extended maligned stopper continues his hot hand in this years regular season.
Big Save
Saves are big by shear athleticism but also by timing, sometimes a goaltender hits the mark in both categories and that was the case tonight when Hiller got a pad on not one but two Nick Spalding rebound attempts to keep the Flames in it at 2-1.
The Goat
Joe Colburne. Dropped form 21 minutes in his energy filled return last night, but only 13 tonight and most of them with the player lost. His read on not covering Giordano on the opening goal was Pee Wee level common sense.
Mr. Clutch
If I had to pick a Flame, and Gaudreau is already taken as a game star I’ll go with Granlund who had jump tonight at least in spurts.
Odds and Ends
The Flames unhealthy relationship with Corsi continues, or at least it did up until last nights game in Buffalo. The Flames were angering the advanced stats elite by winning despite ridiculous PDO and Corsi stats, now they’re losing with the opposite. The Flames have enjoyed their 3 best Corsi nights in the three game losing streak, which either proves the stat is completely bunk or that the team is getting better. Would be a good story if success bred development which bred possession which bred earned victories. Too early for the bottom line stats tonight, but guessing they won’t be as favourable as the other two starts on this trip. … Terrible start for the Flames, about as bad as we’ve seen this year. The Comeau goal was a bad read by Giordano, but some more blame has to go to Colborne for his blown cover of Giordano, and Hiller giving up the short side on what should have been a harmless shot. … Colborne had a rough first period as a whole, just looked lost. Partially being out a long while, and partially still converting to the wing. … With the goalie pulled in Toronto and on a powerplay in the second period tonight with the Penguins having a broken stick I’ve seen the same disturbing trend; a lack of patience. Penalty killing is tiring, when you get a broken stick it forces the defenders into a passive zone coverage that can be taken advantage of if you don’t force things. They Flames continue to force things on this trip. … Another few changes to the powerplay of late has seen Gaudreau deployed differently. He shouldn’t be the slot guy he should be the half wall guy, it lets him run the powerplay and not watch it. Secondly, they have to drop the puck back to Gaudreau to take the zone again. Others are standing still and then shooting it. Painful to watch. Rant over! … Are Giordano and Brodie burning out? Lot of talk lately about the third pairing and the potential need to upgrade the position either through trade or promoting a guy like Wotherspoon from Adirondack. This coincides with a clear change in the level that both of Calgary’s top defenders are walking out on this trip. More mistakes, more bad reads, and way less flow starting smart, short passes from the two. Guessing they are tired. … Obsessing about youth is almost like the time honoured love affair that hockey fans have with the backup goaltender, but I have to admit the return to the lineup of three established players seems to have nuked the flow of all four lines. The team is still working hard, but the passes and the cohesion on the forecheck seems to have left their game. Should settle in, but a problem thus far.
Next Up
The Flames finish off their four game road trip with a Sunday game in Chicago, game time 6pm Sportsnet.
Lines:
Joe Colborne – Sean Monahan – Paul Byron
Johnny Gaudreau – Markus Granlund – Jiri Hudler
Curtis Glencross – Josh Jooris – David Jones
Brandon Bollig – Matt Stajan – Mason Raymond
Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie
Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman
Deryk Engellend – Ladislav Smid
Jonas Hiller
