Post-Game: They done

The Calgary Flames reached the inevitable conclusion of their disappointing second half this evening at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Flames were shut out 3-0 by the Los Angeles Kings, officially eliminating the local hockey heroes from playoff contention.

It’s not a terribly surprising result when you consider they’ve lost six in a row and have posted a 10-18-6 record since the CBA-mandated bye week.

The Flames had a bit of energy in the first period, throwing their weight around a bit and making the Kings fight for territory. Neither team scored, but the period was fairly even. Shots were 8-7 Kings and scoring chances were 7-5 Kings.

A pattern emerged in the middle period. Sam Bennett took two minor penalties. The Kings scored on each man advantage. On the first minor, a Dion Phaneuf point shot through traffic eluded Mike Smith to make it 1-0. On another Bennett minor, which negated the remainder of a Flames power play, Anze Kopitar scored from the left face-off circle to make it 2-0. The Flames had a bit of jump at even strength, but couldn’t muster any great scoring chances. Shots were 9-8 Kings and chances were 6-5 Kings.

The third period was fairly low event. Jeff Carter scored a power play goal with Mark Giordano in the penalty box, as he redirected a Kopitar pass and then buried his own rebound to make it 3-0. The Flames led 8-3 in chances, though the Kings had a slight 10-8 shot edge.

They were who we thought they would be. Missing their three best forwards, the Flames had a ton of their roster playing in unfamiliar positions. They still managed to put up a bit of a fight, though. Ultimately, their penalty kill just couldn’t give them what they needed and so they lost despite playing reasonably well at even strength despite their wildly depleted lineup.

I hated the three minor penalties (and the two resulting goals against), but I really liked Bennett’s energy tonight. If he can bring that level of play, but reel in his occasional sloppiness, maybe there’s still something there. Honourable mention to Brett Kulak, who was similarly full of jump, and Travis Hamonic, who played a ton and was very solid.

Kopitar’s 2-0 goal had a very “here we go again” vibe. The Flames are struggling to create offense and putting them down a pair really took the wind out of their sails.

This was career game number 750 for Mark Giordano. Only four players have played more as a Flame: Jarome Iginla, Robyn Regehr, Al MacInnis and Theoren Fleury.

Flames prospect Glenn Gawdin had two goals in Swift Current’s 4-1 win over Regina, giving the Broncos a 2-1 lead in their first round WHL playoff series.

The Flames have 80 points with 5 games remaining. They do not have enough points available in their remaining games to catch the teams in playoff spots, and therefore they are mathematically eliminated from post-season contention.

The Flames (35-32-10) fly home tonight. They’re off tomorrow, then prepare to welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to town on Thursday night. Four of their final five games will be at the Saddledome.