Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
A few observations from Calgary vs Ottawa:
1. Deja vu. That game felt much like the one we watched but a few days ago. Outside of a couple back-door opportunities early, the Flames struggled mightily to generate high quality chances. They were consistently held to the outside and resorted to blasting low-danger shots into shin pads all night long. The worst part is when shots did get through, there was very little traffic in the face of Filip Gustavsson. There also weren’t enough guys crashing the net to pounce on rebound opportunities. Again, everything was one and done – with the one being an extremely low percentage shot – against Ottawa’s 4th string goaltender. Truly embarrassing. Given how desperate the Flames are for points, and how poor the Sens have been defensively this season, you’d think they’d be able to generate a little more off effort alone. Apparently not.
2. Life was easy. Further to that last point, the Flames made Gustavsson’s life *way* too easy. It’s hard to put into words just how pathetic of a performance they put forth. Gustavsson was forced to make one high-danger save. One. The Flames had a few more high-danger looks but, you know, missed the net on all of them. So, yeah, Gustavsson had to make one Grade A stop. He only faced seven medium danger shots, too, and exactly zero rush chances. Zero. I know the Flames want to put the puck behind the defense and work opponents down low but you simply can’t abandon the rush game entirely. That’s the easiest way to catch opponents in out-numbered situations and force them to make quick decisions, which can lead to more mistakes. They have some personne to stretch the defense and make competent outlets. Rush play isn’t going to be the team’s bread and butter, but it wouldn’t hurt to take the occasional shot and keep teams honest.
3. Uh oh. The game was within a goal from puck drop until Ottawa’s late empty netter. Clearly, the Flames could’ve used some more offense. The ice time didn’t exactly reflect that. I mean, Milan Lucic led Flames forwards in 5v5 ice. After that? Sam Bennett. Meanwhile, Matthew Tkachuk played less than all but the 4th line at 5v5. Andrew Mangiapane only played a shift more than Tkachuk. Call me crazy but I think the latter two are much more likely to provide run support than the former. I hope we're not heading to the point where the team isn't playing well and Sutter tries to get the team out of it by, uh, overplaying the bad players on the team.
4. 19%. That’s where Dom Luszczyszyn has Calgary’s playoff odds at following a second straight regulation defeat to the worst team in the division. Forget about contending for the Stanley Cup, Mr. Sutter. The Flames will be lucky to sneak in the playoffs and draw a matchup with the high-flying Maple Leafs. I think we’re going to have The Talk here, and it’s going to be much sooner than anyone – myself included – would have guessed. This team is seriously flawed and will probably need to take a step back before moving forward. Just how much is going to be a really interesting question, especially considering the state of management right now. Sutter came back to win and is in Y1 of a 3Y deal while the roster constructor, Brad Treliving, is very quickly approaching hot seat territory. Things are not good in Calgary right now and, if the ship doesn’t get righted immediately, they’re going to get much uglier.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
Recent posts:
Four bold predictions for the 2021 season: North Division edition
Breakout picks from the North Division
2021 NHL award predictions: North Division edition
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»