Quips and Quotes: Flames lose to Canucks 4-3 (in a shootout)

The Calgary Flames lost to the Vancouver Canucks by a 4-3 score (in a shootout) on Saturday night. Here are selected reactions from players and coaches following the game.

The tone of head coach Bill Peters’ post-game address was as positive as you’d expect it to be. His team put up nearly 50 shots on the opposition net, had a lot of zone time, but couldn’t execute in a handful of moments often enough to capture two points.

“I really liked our second period,” said Peters. “I thought we needed to come out of that one with a lead. We didn’t. It was 3-3 after 40, but I liked a lot of the things we did here tonight.”

Peters praised his special teams units – noting that the power play had some good looks – and praised Travis Hamonic’s body sacrifices on the penalty kill, as he laid out in front of a lot of tough shots.

Heading into Saturday’s game, Andrew Mangiapane was one of six Flames skaters without a goal this season – and the one that had played the most games without a goal. So it was part relief, part excitement for the youngster when he scored his first NHL goal in the second period.

“It felt like our line was hemming them in there in the second period a little bit,” said Mangiapane. “And then [Noah Hanifin] I guess picked it up and made a nice pass over to me. It was definitely a good feeling and I’m happy it’s out of the way.”

Mangiapane, Garnet Hathaway and Derek Ryan have quietly been very effective over the past few weeks and they’ve begun to chip in offensively as well. For a Flames club that has been very challenged at getting contributions from their bottom six over the last several seasons, it’s a big improvement.