Calgary Puck

Do you know what’s worse than watching a team lose six straight games?

Having to write a game story about a team that has lost six straight games. Trust me.

What more can one say? The Flames showed up, they had their work boots on and they put everything they could to the net. They had 40 shots on goal, they hit three goal posts, but in the end they were blanked yet again, this time by the St. Louis Blues in a 5-0 white washing on Thursday night.

Thing is … shots and pressure is good, it’s a great thing for a club to aim for and execute, but if said pressure is going to result in copious turnovers and immense pressure on their goaltender than it’s really not an exchange that will generally end up with a win.

So yes check mark for giving it their all, but they need to be smart as well or this thing will continue to stretch on.

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Another game, another loss.

After a streak of success, say three wins in four games, a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche with the home side up in shots and chances would be a game you could accept and get your head around. It happens.

But when said loss comes as the fifth straight, and fourth straight without securing a point there just aren’t any silver linings to be mined. The league is too tight and November points squandered can lead to a lost season if a slide isn’t handcuffed and arrested before it becomes a season killer.

The Flames played a solid first and third periods on Tuesday night, but found themselves down 3-0 in the second period before goals by Derek Ryan and Andrew Mangiapane brought the game close and made it interesting. The loss sends the Flames on a tough game road trip, starting in St. Louis on Thursday night.

Things are getting real … fast.

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This year’s first installment of the Stat Hack; a quick story looking to drill down into a specific area, delves into the obvious question in town – What the hell is wrong with the Calgary Flames?

The quick answer? Everything!

Or at least, almost everything. – Full Article –

Calgary just doesn’t win in Vegas I guess.

Sure it doesn’t have the tenure of the streak in Anaheim, but it does take on a more sinister feel when you’ve literally never won in a city.

This time the Flames were even money through two periods playing a decent road game but trailing 2-0 before the flood gates opened in the third period and the Vegas Golden Knights (that still sounds silly to me) skated away with an easy win.

For the Flames that’s four straight losses (picked up a point in the first one), and they say good teams don’t drop more than two in a row in a season if they want to be consistent and finish where they want to in the standings. Well the Flames just aren’t a good hockey team right now; they can’t defend well, and they certainly can’t score making winning hockey games a bit of a challenge.

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Sometimes things just don’t go your way.

Today’s matinee, a 3-0 loss to the Arizona Coyotes, was just one of those games. The team has played many games more poorly this season and got points, but today they just couldn’t solve one of hockey’s hottest goaltenders; Darcy Kuemper.

A second period line brawl with the game 2-0 fueled an energetic Flames side to push hard in the third period, but it just wasn’t meant to be. The big issue is a two game losing streak, especially with the team heading to Vegas, a city in which they’ve never won, tomorrow night.

You don’t want to go streaking in the wrong direction.

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