After two strong games to kick off their road trip, the Calgary Flames looked fairly ordinary on Tuesday night against the Dallas Stars. They couldn’t sustain much of an offensive attack and lost to Dallas by a 2-0 score.

The Rundown

There’s not much to discuss about this game. The Flames were playing their third game in four nights (in three different cities). They were missing two top nine forwards in Sam Bennett and James Neal. They were rolling with 11 forwards and seven defensemen – though Dalton Prout hardly played – and it seemed like the entire team was quite sluggish, similar to the game where they lost 1-0 to the Edmonton Oilers a few weeks back.
Dallas scored once in the first and once in the second and then were content to kill the clock in the third period.
  • Their first goal was off a turnover in the defensive zone by Mikael Backlund, which allowed a few quick passes and then a puck to glance in off Jamie Benn’s skate.
  • The second goal was off a lapse in coverage from Mark Giordano that let Radek Faksa all alone. The puck blooped right to him in the slot and he deked around David Rittich.
The Flames were out-shot and out-chanced in the first two periods. They generate a lot of shots in the third period but not too many chances.

Why the Flames Lost

The Flames looked out of sorts on this occasion. They didn’t have a ton of energy, they couldn’t connect on a ton of their passes, and they didn’t sustain much pressure until late in the game. They were due for a stinker, and this one was a stinker.
But give the Stars credit: they did a great job making life miserable for the Flames. They leaned on them. They disrupted passes well. They kept the shooting lanes open and allowed Ben Bishop to see most of the shots. For a team that’s looked good against basically everybody they’ve played other than the Stars, it might be instructive to study the game tape and see what Dallas did – they obviously did their homework.

Red Warrior

Rittich was really good. The rest of the team not so much.

The Turning Point

Given how the Flames were playing, the Faksa goal was a back-breaker. If they make it to the second intermission behind by a single goal they probably have a chance, but a two-goal disadvantage was too large to overcome.

The Numbers

(Percentage stats are 5-on-5, data via Corsica.Hockey)
Player
Corsi
For%
OZone
Start%
Game
Score
Prout
80.0
100
0.150
Quine
55.0
57.1
0.075
Monahan
52.9
50.0
0.150
Ryan
52.6
50.0
0.090
Lindholm
52.4
64.3
0.420
Gaudreau
51.6
42.9
0.435
Hathaway
50.0
50.0
0.275
Jankowski
50.0
75.0
0.125
Hamonic
50.0
57.1
0.350
Hanifin
48.6
53.3
0.175
Andersson
46.2
62.5
-0.050
Giordano
44.8
60.0
0.075
Backlund
44.4
64.7
-0.215
Tkachuk
43.8
68.8
-0.500
Kylington
43.8
50.0
-0.100
Brodie
43.3
56.3
-0.100
Rychel
41.2
40.0
-0.025
Czarnik
36.7
61.5
-0.470
Rittich
—
—
1.100
Smith
—
—
—

This and That

Oliver Kylington skated a few shifts on the left wing beside Alan Quine and Garnet Hathaway. Dalton Prout played just 34 seconds through two periods and just 2:43 in the entire game.
Expect Hathaway to get a call from the Department of Player Safety regarding his goaltender interference penalty on Ben Bishop. Bishop left the game briefly, presumably for some manner of evaluation of his status, and the league likely won’t be stoked about the avoidable contact to the head.
With Sportsnet play-by-play commentator Rick Ball under the weather, Sportsnet 960 The Fan’s Derek Wills pinch-hit and made his NHL television debut. Peter Loubardias went old-school and called the game on the radio solo.

Up Next

The Flames (22-11-2) head home tonight. They host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.