The weekend was not too kind to the Calgary Flames.
They entered the weekend having won seven consecutive games and exited it on a two-game losing streak after a tough loss to the Detroit Red Wings Sunday night.
Notes:
1) Karri Ramo wasn't stellar but he stopped .912% of the shots he faced and kept the Flames in it until the final buzzer. Obviously there was a bit of a lapse in the 2nd period but the Flames were on their heels for much of the frame - Detroit out-chanced them 12-5 in the 2nd - so that can't be put on him.
He's not giving the Flames all-world goaltending but he's given them a chance almost each time out over the last month or so. That's all they can realistically ask of him.
2) Markus Granlund played primarily against Pavel Datsyuk's line at even-strength and the results weren't, well, good.
With Granlund on the ice at 5 v 5 the Flames lost the shot attempt battle 11-3.
To his credit he still made an impact on the penalty kill as he logged 2:24 in that game state - no Flames forward played more - and had a couple good looks offensively.
3) The Flames didn't get the result they were looking for, obviously, but offensive contributions from the back end continues to be a positive for them as Flames' blue liners combined for both goals, four points and 11 shots in the loss.
Dougie Hamilton has seven points in his last nine games.T. J. Brodie has nine points in his last 10. Mark Giordano has nine points in his last 11. Kris Russell and Dennis Wideman have chipped in of late, too.
The Flames have one of the most mobile and offensively gifted blue lines in the NHL and that's finally starting to show. It's no coincidence the Flames have been on the right side of results more often than not of late.
4) Sam Bennett played just 10:12 against the Wings. That was a season low for him and only Josh Jooris and Ladislav Smid played less. He's not putting up many points I'm not sure glueing him to the bench will help him out of his funk.
As a 19-year-old rookie Bennett leads the Flames in high-danger scoring chances at 5 v 5. If anything he should see more ice, not less.
5) Calgary generated just 42% of the scoring chances at 5 vs 5 against Detroit.
With Michael Frolik on the ice this season the Flames have had a 56% share of scoring chances.
Hopefully for the Flames he can get back in the lineup within a reasonable time frame because they definitely need him.
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