The Calgary Flames appeared to have some issues playing to their standard of quality yesterday as they allowed four straight goals in period two of game three of this second round Battle of Alberta.
Losing two straight certainly isn’t ideal. The Flames came out completely flat in period one getting outshot 7-21, out-attempted 13-20 (39.39CF%) and losing out 3-5 in high danger chances.
Despite this, they survived the first without a goal against. Period two, while more even in the stat department, was where the game was lost. Four unanswered including an Evander Kane hat trick spelled the end for the Flames. Here are a few more thought on the game.
Skating Wasn’t There
The Oilers did an excellent job at clogging the passing lanes. A major cause for this was the lack of skating the Flames were doing. The Oilers had time to comfortably set up the congestion needed to stifle the Flames breakout.
Getting their foot speed up to where it needs to be is one goal for next game. Another is keeping the Oilers on their heels with a firmer dump and chase game. The Oilers blue line doesn’t thrive under pressure. The Flames need to get pressure on the likes of Duncan Keith, Cody Ceci and the injured Darnell Nurse in order to generate higher quality chances.
Lucic Gets Tossed
8:35 into the third period, Milan Lucic collided with Mike Smith behind the Oilers net. It wasn’t a hard collision and Lucic mostly made contact with Smith’s calf. There is the possibility Lucic did some damage to Smith’s oft-injured groin, but otherwise the incident was fairly overblown.
Suffice it to say the Oilers weren’t happy with that turn of events. Eight penalties were handed out on the play by referees Gord Dwyer, Kyle Rehman and Francois St. Laurent.
While it’s not the most wholesome sequence of events; most Flames fans were hoping for some sort of spark. The hit was Milan’s way of trying to get his team going.
Per Wes Gilbertson, here is what Lucic had to say of the play:
“If I actually did charge (Mike Smith), we both wouldn’t be playing tomorrow.”
Ending on a Good Note
Despite the discouraging effort in the first two periods, the Flames came on strong in the third while the Oilers started backing off.
Calgary Flames in the Third Period
Shot attempts for: 18
Shot attempts against: 5
CF%: 78.26%
High danger chances for: 5
High danger chances against: 1
HDCF%: 83.33%
Unlikely Hero
Who would you guess posted the best attempts percentage while on the ice last game?
Johnny Gaudreau? Elias Lindholm? Maybe the two-way beast in Mikael Backlund?
That distinction belongs to Michael Stone with a 68.75CF%. 22-10 in chances while on the ice. He was also the only defenceman to finish the game without allowing a goal against.
How much more does this guy need to do to earn a permanent roster spot with the team next season?
Stone finished the game having played 19:00 of ice time including 3:45 of powerplay time and 1:28 of penalty kill.
The Flames and Oilers play game four tomorrow in Edmonton at 7:30pm local time.
Trevor Neufeld
Statistics via naturalstattrick.com, nhl.com, dobberhockey.com, and moneypuck.com.
@Trevor_Neufeld 
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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