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The Calgary Flames had the perfect opportunity to separate themselves from the Nashville Predators, and the rest of the pack chasing them, with a win.
They were unable to do that, though, as they fell behind the 8-ball early and never recovered in what turned out to be a 4-3 loss.
A few notes:
1) Last night's performance was, simply put, inexcusable. The Flames were at home and playing a struggling Predators team missing their two most dynamic players in Roman Josi and P.K. Subban.
Despite that, the Flames looked sloppy from the word go and couldn't generate much of anything until the final few minutes of the game. By that point, the Preds were up 4-0 and the game was over.
Every time the Flames are met with an opportunity to solidify their playoff position they lay an egg. They did this against Winnipeg, New Jersey and now Nashville.
They need to figure things out and start winning the games they're supposed to. If they don't, it may just catch up to them.
2) The Flames have been an absolute roller coaster of late. One day I'm ready to crown them serious contenders in an underwhelming Western Conference (there aren't many teams that stand out), and the next they look like a bottom feeder. There is just too much inconsistency from everyone outside of the Mikael Backlund line and Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton pairing.
3) Speaking of the Backlund line, they had another strong showing and carried the Flames at 5v5.
Though there is a lot of green it's important to note the Flames were playing catch up all game, which helps inflate the numbers. The Backlund line was legitimately good, but I wouldn't read too much into the rest of the positive numbers in this game. Not a lot of the shot attempts were overly dangerous.
4) The loss was not all Chad Johnson's fault, but he wasn't particularly good. That has been a trend, with both Johnson and Elliott struggling to really find their game over the last month or so.
Until one or both of these guys finds their groove and provide stable goaltending on a nightly basis this roller coaster ride will probably continue. They haven't been bad. They just haven't been good.
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