The Flames just didn’t have it tonight.
They were outplayed five on five throughout the game, and only made it close with a lack of King’s discipline in the last half of the game.
The two game roadie ends with a 1-1 split after tonight’s 5-3 loss in LA, sending the Flames to the Christmas break short of their goal to be .500.
The Flames now sit 11th in the West in win percentage and have a lot of work to do when the puck drops in a few days.
That’s three in a row for the Flames.
They’re a wagon!
Ok, maybe that’s a stretch, but the Flames had a bit of flex in Anaheim as they ran the show from coast to coast cinching a pretty straight forward road victory in a building that used to be their nightmare.
The Flames got goals from Nick DeSimone (his NHL first), Elias Lindholm and AJ Greer into the empty net, and a shut out from Jacob Markstrom.
They now sit a point out of the playoffs with other teams having games in hand.
Sometimes you play well but don’t get the points.
We saw that in the Flames recent road trip with solid efforts in all three cities, but only two loser points to show for their efforts.
Tonight though, the opposite … a relatively complacent home effort against the Florida Panthers, but a first star lap from goaltender Jacob Markstrom in his return from a two week absence with a broken finger the difference in a 3-1 win.
The Flames score two third period short handed goals to break a 1-1 tie, that’s five shorthanded goals in seven games for a team that can’t buy a powerplay goal.
Such a strange season.
The Flames have scored the first goal of the game in their last four games and lost them all.
They had third period leads in each of their last three games and lost them all.
Tonight they scored the game’s first three goals and had a tense third period, but righted the ship on a Connor Zary goal and held on for a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
The win snaps a losing streak and sets the stage for a Matthew Tkachuk game on Monday night.
That’s three straight games on this trip with third period leads, and three straight losses.
Not the best recipe for a team looking to dig themselves out of a hole and into the mix in the West standings.
At least the last two blown leads resulted in points as the Flames lost back to back extra time games; this one a 3-2 shoot out loss in Minnesota.
Calgary returns home to play the Lightning on Saturday night.
Need a streak … stat!
