Five observations from Calgary vs Dallas:
1. The Flames no-showed There is not starting on time, and then there is whatever the Flames did last night in Dallas. On the road against a Stars team that entered play desperate to snap out of a somewhat lengthy losing streak, the Flames had to know they'd put their best foot forward. Yet, for whatever reason, they just weren't ready for it. They came out as flat as a pancake and were the third best side in a game featuring two. The Flames spent long stretches of play hemmed in the defensive zone. When they (rarely) managed to win a race or puck battle, they'd hand it right back. Rinse and repeat for 40 minutes.
As is always the case, the Flames put together a strong 3rd period but it was too little, too late. They got what they deserved last night.
2. David Rittich gave the Flames a chance He kept them in the game when they had absolutely no business being in it. The Stars came out flying and piled up nine chances (six high-danger) in the opening period compared to three for the Flames (one high-danger). They followed that up in the 2nd period by recording 12 chances (five high-danger) compared to seven for the Flames (again, one high-danger). The Stars dominated in terms of possession and had no problems generating Grade A looks while the Flames, well, did.
The tune changed a bit in the 3rd period and there was actually some doubt whether the Stars would hold on. There wouldn't have been any had Rittich not stood on his head, particularly in the first two periods.
I think the scoreline would have been more reflective of performance had Mike Smith gotten the nod instead.
3. The top dogs were quiet With fringe NHLers like Kerby Rychel, Alan Quine, Garnet Hathaway and Dalton Prout in the lineup, creating offense was always going to be a challenge for the bottom half of the roster. Especially on the road in a pace-down matchup against Dallas. To have a chance, the Flames needed their top guys to come through yet again. That didn't happen.
At 5v5, Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan, and Johnny Gaudreau accounted for three scoring chances (one high-danger). No, not three each. Three total.
The MMA line fared no better combining to generate *checks notes* two scoring chances (one high-danger). When Michael Frolik, James Neal, and Sam Bennett are in the lineup, the top guys can have the occasional off night and get away with it. There is next to no wiggle room when the bottom half of the roster is depleted. Last night was a perfect example of that.
4. The power play was awful It was a very 2017-18 effort from the Flames while up a man. They struggled to gain the opposing line, puck movement was not up to par, and they couldn't generate anything. In eight minutes of 5v4 play, they did not record a single high-danger chance and they gave up as many shots as they recorded (5). Not great, Bob!
Here's a quick summary of how badly the power play, and team, struggled:
Three Flames failing to win a puck battle against one Dallas Star behind their own net on the PP sums up this game perfectly.
— Kent Wilson (@Kent_Wilson) December 19, 2018
5. Glass half full The Flames have had an excellent season, they're banged up and it was their third game in four nights. Bad games happen. I'm generally a pretty positive person, so I'm going to end things off commenting on a few of the things that did go well:
a) Mark Giordano recorded six shot attempts, three chances, and perhaps generated the best opportunity of the night when he pinched, was fed the puck, and got a great shot off in the slot area. He continues to bring it every night.
b) The penalty kill was excellent again. They did not concede a single shot on goal in four minutes of 4v5 play against a team that features Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Alexander Radulov, among others. That's something!
c) Rasmus Andersson once again got some run in an extra attacker situation while trailing late. I'm here for it.
d) ...yeah, we're done here.
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