Post-Game: Back-to-Back Losses

We’ve got good news and bad news for you, gang.

The Calgary Flames didn’t get shut out. Nope, they scored a goal despite being down 2-0 after two periods. Unfortunately, they couldn’t continue their miraculous run of comebacks and now have finally lost back-to-back games in regulation. They began their road trip with a 4-1 set-back at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

They now have a 17-10-2 record through 29 games, finally cracking double-digits in regulation losses.

Here’s how it happened.

Calgary had a good, energetic first period. They skated hard. They generated many chances. They led in shots (10-5), shot attempts (29-15) and face-off wins (10-9). But they biffed on the one thing that’s actually on a scoreboard, and after Johnny Gaudreau failed to beat Jonathan Bernier on one end, David Clarkson and Peter Holland crashed the net and Holland scored to give Toronto a 1-0 lead.

The second period featured a first half with the Flames taking a penalty, giving up a goal and then hanging on for dear life. Then they woke up and started playing well. James van Riemsdyk scored a power-play goal off a nifty feed from Nazem Kadri (that stood up as the eventual winner). The Flames couldn’t get through the neutral zone for about eight minutes after that goal, but eventually broke through and generated chances late. Toronto led in shots (16-7), shot attempts (24-17) and face-offs (9-7) in the second.

Calgary gave up two goals in the third period and scored one. The two goals were both empty-netters, when it seemed like they probably didn’t gave the gas in the tank to come back all the way again. Markus Granlund had a ton of chances, including a power-play opportunity that ended up in the back of the net. Basically, it was a give-and-go zone entry with Mark Giordano. The captain ate a hit and chipped the puck to a streaking Granlund, who went top shelf on Bernier to make it 2-1. The Flames kept pressing and pressing, but couldn’t break through. Phil Kessel and Mike Santorelli had empty-netters in the final minute to ice it. Calgary led in shots (16-8), shot attempts (31-12) and even face-offs (13-8) in the final frame, but lost.

They played just badly enough to lose. They out-chanced the Maple Leafs but Bernier stood tall. They took a penalty at the wrong time and it completely derailed their second period, allowing Toronto to score and take over the period (and the game).

It seemed very familiar to how the Sharks game went: the Flames generated chances but couldn’t finish, while their opponent managed to do so. You can’t hang it on the goalie or a particular player. It just happened. Well, you could probably hang it on another uneven second period, but that’s about it.

Markus Granlund. He was Calgary’s best player in the third period and scored the team’s only goal.

The Flames are back in action on Thursday evening when they travel to upstate New York to face the lowly Buffalo Sabres. That game kicks off at 5pm MT and comes at ya on Sportsnet Flames.