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Last night the Calgary Flames squared off against the Edmonton Oilers for the fourth and final time this season.
As was the case in the first three meetings, the Flames came out on the losing end. I guess you could say the Battle of Alberta wasn't much of a battle this year.
A few notes:
1) I know it's easy to say in hindsight, but I think starting Chad Johnson was the wrong decision. He allowed four goals on 21 shots against Nashville and, quite frankly, didn't look good. If Brian Elliott isn't going to get the net following a poor showing from Johnson, when is he going to? Historically Elliott has been the better goaltender so Johnson shouldn't be the one getting the benefit of the doubt.
2) The Flames have controlled 52% of the shot attempts and 50.6% of the scoring chances with Brett Kulak on the ice at 5v5.
With Jyrki Jokipakka on the ice at 5v5, the Flames control 44.9% of the shot attempts and 42.5% of the scoring chances.
At what point does Kulak take Jokipakka's spot in the lineup? Do we really need to see more plays like this before making a change?
3) The Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik line was easily Calgary's best. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
They created Calgary's 1st goal and feasted on Connor McDavid's line at even-strength. No, seriously.
Backlund's line went head-to-head with McDavid's for almost seven minutes at 5v5. In those seven minutes, the Flames out-attempted the Oilers 13-3, outshot them 9-2 and didn't give up one scoring chance. That's as good as it gets.
4) I don't think the Flames played as poorly as the end result suggest. In saying that, being blown out at home in a rivalry game when you're desperate for points is embarrassing. It's even worse when you factor in the Oilers played the night before while the Flames rested. Games like that may end up costing the Flames their season.
As it stands, the Flames are holding down the final wild card spot but Vancouver is one point back with two games in hand, Los Angeles is three back with three in hand, and Winnipeg is only three back as well. The Flames had some opportunities to separate themselves from the pack and they wasted them. Now they're going to have to scratch and claw to get in.
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