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Calgary Flames Blogger •
Going into last night's game it would have been pretty hard to imagine any scenario that would have been tougher on the team than the events of October twelfth when the Flames lost after taking a 5-0 first period lead. That shouldn't be an issue anymore.
To be fair, the first period was an incredible 20 minutes to watch as the teams battled more like it was a game in June than a game in October as the Hawks were able to score a powerplay goal and were being backstopped by a terrific performance by much maligned goaltender Cristobal Huet. Things got even more positive for Flames fans as their own struggling player, Olli Jokinen, was able to tie the game just 14 seconds into the middle frame. Sure the Hawks tied it up again just 1:47 later but at that point it was still pretty much a back and forth game with both teams generating chances and trading punches trying to go for a knock-out. And then the Hawks scored that big blow as once they netted the first even strength goal of the game at 8:01 of the second by Dustin Byfuglien the wheels completely fell off for the Flames as the Hawks would tally three more times in the second and force Miikka Kiprusoff to the bench for the third.
This time it was the Hawks who has a five goal road lead as the Flames would face an uphill battle just to be able to make the game look respectable let alone actually making it competitive again in the third. It didn't happen. In fact the Hawks were able to score on one of only two shots in the final frame as the Flames were unsuccessful in their nine that made it to Huet. All told the Flames actually outshot their opponents 28-26 continuing an odd statistic in which they've had trouble winning games in which they've had the shot advantage (they also outshot the Avs in both losses).
Coach Sutter blamed it on emotion. He thinks the team needs to get more angry at themselves, and each other when going through a stretch such as the one that occurred in the second. In his post-game press conference he seemed baffled by the way his team handled the game and questioned the team's pride in a very public way. It's something that has been questioned in the past as the team has had their revolving door for their coaches the last few seasons but the team always seemed to have an excuse: Playfair was too green, Keenan was too old-school, Darryl was too busy to handle coach and GM duties, but this year was supposed to be different. Brent Sutter was brought in specifically to address those types of baffling consistency issues that the team has had. Last night they looked as bad as they have in a long time. Now we'll get to see if Brent has the ability to change the dynamic that keeps seeing this team fall into this rut.
Have a great day!
shaune.vetter@hockeybuzz.com
To be fair, the first period was an incredible 20 minutes to watch as the teams battled more like it was a game in June than a game in October as the Hawks were able to score a powerplay goal and were being backstopped by a terrific performance by much maligned goaltender Cristobal Huet. Things got even more positive for Flames fans as their own struggling player, Olli Jokinen, was able to tie the game just 14 seconds into the middle frame. Sure the Hawks tied it up again just 1:47 later but at that point it was still pretty much a back and forth game with both teams generating chances and trading punches trying to go for a knock-out. And then the Hawks scored that big blow as once they netted the first even strength goal of the game at 8:01 of the second by Dustin Byfuglien the wheels completely fell off for the Flames as the Hawks would tally three more times in the second and force Miikka Kiprusoff to the bench for the third.
This time it was the Hawks who has a five goal road lead as the Flames would face an uphill battle just to be able to make the game look respectable let alone actually making it competitive again in the third. It didn't happen. In fact the Hawks were able to score on one of only two shots in the final frame as the Flames were unsuccessful in their nine that made it to Huet. All told the Flames actually outshot their opponents 28-26 continuing an odd statistic in which they've had trouble winning games in which they've had the shot advantage (they also outshot the Avs in both losses).
Coach Sutter blamed it on emotion. He thinks the team needs to get more angry at themselves, and each other when going through a stretch such as the one that occurred in the second. In his post-game press conference he seemed baffled by the way his team handled the game and questioned the team's pride in a very public way. It's something that has been questioned in the past as the team has had their revolving door for their coaches the last few seasons but the team always seemed to have an excuse: Playfair was too green, Keenan was too old-school, Darryl was too busy to handle coach and GM duties, but this year was supposed to be different. Brent Sutter was brought in specifically to address those types of baffling consistency issues that the team has had. Last night they looked as bad as they have in a long time. Now we'll get to see if Brent has the ability to change the dynamic that keeps seeing this team fall into this rut.
Have a great day!
shaune.vetter@hockeybuzz.com
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