The Calgary Flames got pushed on their heels early and couldn’t crawl back to victory in a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday night.

It’s a Team Game – This game will be up there for one of the worst starts they are going to have in a game all year. Judging from the players post-game comments they know that too. The first 30 minutes was a Carolina shooting gallery with the only thing really holding them off being Dan Vladar’s strong play. Eventually the dam burst, and the Hurricanes found themselves with a 3-0 lead. In classic Calgary fashion the Flames picked up their lunch pails and tried to get back into things. They controlled the third period and got back to within one, but ultimately the slow start did them in for their first regulation loss of the season.

Corsi King – One of those rare nights where every single Flames player was on the underside of 50 per cent. Honestly, if it was going to happen against any team I would have guessed Carolina. The Hurricanes just fire shots at will and are very good at picking up their own rebounds to get multiple opportunities. Blake Coleman (48.07 CF%) and Mikael Backlund (44.14 per cent) being the top two, even on an off night, is pretty standard. Linemate Connor Zary (41.34 per cent) continues to dazzle in open space – he’s become one of the most entertaining players on this team as he wiggles and dances his way through opponents on a rush at least two times a game.

Taken By Chance – Everyone on the team lost both the scoring chance battles and the high danger chance battles. Carolina is a perennial second round playoff team – there is no shame in having a rough night against them. Rasmus Andersson (27.70 SCF% || 30.66 HDCF%) led the squad with involvement in 4 high danger chances at 5v5. The Flames defenceman is playing some of the best hockey in his career right now. He is radiating confidence and is getting offensive results on the scoresheet to back it up.

xGF% – The only person to hit at least 50 percent in any of the four statistics highlighted was Martin Pospisil (50.24 per cent) as Andrei Kuzmenko (49.03 per cent) fell just short of the mark. I did not mind this line tonight – Nazem Kadri (45.44 per cent) was shooting more and even got some iron in this game, as did Pospisil. Calgary has had about 3 games in a row where there has been a struggle to capitalize on the offensive side of the puck, forcing themselves into late game comeback situations. Their resiliency has paid off so far, but it is extremely hard to rely on that for an 82-game season.

In The Crease – Dan Vladar was superb all night long. He held the Flames in the game and is the number one reason they had a shot at overtime late. Vladar appeared to tweak something late in the game – something to monitor going forward. He faced 3.06 expected goals against at 5v5 only surrendering 2 high danger goals. No weak goals is why the Flames remain in all their games until the end. The rotation goes back to Wolf for the next match which will hopefully allow Vladar to rest whatever ended up bothering him.

Player Spotlight – Jake Bean – The local man gets his first ever goal for the hometown team. Of the two options that have played next to Pachal I have liked what Bean has brought. There were a couple moments tonight where Vladar was able to bail him out on some failed clear-outs, but he wasn’t the only culprit in that category last night. He’s shown good mobility and hasn’t been to active in his pinching. He’s playing smart hockey and using his strengths when the game flow allows him to showcase them. Congratulations on doing something you more than likely dreamed about doing as a kid – it can’t feel much better than that.