Stars 2, Flames 0 post-game embers: Just a bad game

Having more good games than bad still means that you’ll have bad games. This was one of those relatively rare ones for the Flames.

On the second of a back-to-back, the Flames got off to an amazing start, and it saw them win the game. On their third game in four nights, the Flames got off to a poor start, continued to play poorly, and by the time they decided to start trying, it was far too late.

It was a pretty sleepy affair for the Flames overall, and David Rittich was probably the only Flame to show up over the course of 60 minutes. Without him, it likely would have been far worse than the 2-0 loss that it was.

Garnet Hathaway briefly made himself the focal point in the second period with two moments that had the potential to be game changers – running Ben Bishop behind his own net and being the victim of a Roman Polak roughing penalty after a collision with Tyler Seguin – but nothing in-game really came of it.

And even though the Flames looked far better in the third period, they were still bobbling the puck and having a tough time playing clean with it. It just wasn’t their night at all.

Rittich had a great game, even after getting next to nothing to work with. He hasn’t had a bad game since he was pulled after the first period in Columbus, really: a game in which all four goalies that played were poor. He deserves another start, even after a loss; fatigue certainly didn’t look like it was affecting him, and he gave the Flames a fighting chance right up until the very end.

The penalty kill went two-for-two, and all the while it was pretty aggressive. The Flames’ kill has climbed up from the NHL’s basement to about league average, and it was one of the few times on the night the Flames actually looked alive.

It’s nothing more than a moral victory, but playing so poorly for a solid 40-60 minutes (depending on your definition of “poor”) and still only losing by two goals is kind of impressive.

The Flames were shut out for the third time this season, and second time in five games. No, they’re not gonna score five goals every game, but that’s still not great.

The team was pretty bad all around, but their powerplay going zero-for-four was especially dreadful. They spent way more time chasing than they did actually trying to get anything on net.

Two injured forwards resulting in Dalton Prout playing 2:43 can’t be good for anybody, even if the lack of an extra forward is in part due to cap space. You’ve gotta think there’d be a better contingency plan for that.

I love Rittich, but he’s gotta stop trying to be Mike Smith with playing the puck. Even Smith isn’t as good with it as Smith thinks he is. It keeps leading to near disasters, and for no real reason with no real potential gain from it.

47.56% – The Flames’ 5v5 CF on the night. They were dreadful, and it’s only due to a 78.26% third period that their numbers looked respectable at any point.

26:00 – Partly a product of 11 forwards dressed allowing him to be double shifted, but Johnny Gaudreau played 26 minutes against the Stars – the most he’s ever played in a single game in his career. Part of that was the 5:40 spent on an extremely unproductive powerplay. Still, 26 minutes for a forward in a 60-minute game is a ton – only Mark Giordano beat him out with 26:12.

4 – Travis Hamonic led the team with four shots on net. Which, like, good for him – he was very noticeable in jumping up into the play and trying to get pucks on net, more so than any other defenceman. But also, Hamonic isn’t exactly known for his offence, and him leading this team in shots isn’t a great sign.

0.929% – Rittich’s save percentage on an otherwise uneventful night. Of the 15 full games he’s gotten a chance to play, he’s had a save percentage above 0.920% in 12 of them. He might be legit.

This isn’t so much a defining moment for the Flames as it is a learning opportunity. Even then, though, that probably won’t be the last bad game they have this season. But it’s something everyone goes through. The next game is against the league-leading Lightning, and they lost 7-1 to the Coyotes earlier this year. It happens to everybody, it’s fine.