The Calgary Flames ran out of gas at the end of a long road trip, getting walked on in a 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators.

It’s a Team Game – Calgary came out in the first with quite a bit of pop. Trying to make sure this last game on the road trip worked in their favour, and at the end of the first they only trailed by one. It was the second period where the wheels fell off and the floodgates behind Cooley opened up. At the end of two being down 4-0 on four 5v5 goals is not that motivating to anybody. The third saw Nashville dominate possession and chances as the Flames seemed to wait for the whistle. Morgan Frost would end the Saros shutout bid with a late third period goal on the powerplay, but that was about as much as Calgary had left.

Corsi King – Blake Coleman (58.09 CF%) was a feisty guy in this one. Getting into a scrap and being in the middle of a lot of ruckus. That’s prime veteran leadership on display in a game where it would be very easy for many to just check out completely. Pure competitor, that guy. I don’t know when Yan Kuznetsov (49.65 per cent) is going to give me reason to worry, but what happened in this one isn’t it. The whole team had their faults, and really, I do believe the brutal travel of this specific road trip was a factor.  The Flames as a whole have not defended that poorly since early in the season – they are typically fantastic at keeping second chance and high deflections from happening. Sometimes things really just do not end up going your way.

Taken By Chance – I thought Jonathan Huberdeau (82.03 SCF% // 100 HDCF%) had one of his better games in a while. He had a golden opportunity – the best one Calgary got all evening – on a clear-cut breakaway. He did not convert there but remained aggressive on the attack whenever he got the chance. This team’s offence needs to run through him some nights, if they do want to not be in the basement when the season ends, he’s got to find ways to get some more goals. Matt Coronato (100 per cent // 100 per cent) has had his scoring streak dry up, and Rasmus Andersson (40.77 per cent // 41.06 per cent) came back down to earth too. Someone has to be the guy every night, so far the results showcase the Flames clearly don’t have enough to keep the goals coming consistently.

xGF% – I heard his name early in the broadcast and really wanted to focus on him, actively watch every shift I saw him out there. Oh yeah, it was John Beecher I was watching – playing in his seventh game as a Flame. He comes across as just another fourth liner, and his size hasn’t yielded too much of an advantage. It really does not move the needle one way or the other when he plays, but it is interesting to see Ryan Lomberg scratched for him to stay in the lineup. If you are going to move on from Lomberg, for any reason, I do think there is a trade market for him. Is he going to command a first round pick? No. However being able to get anything for a pending UFA while you sit 31st or 32nd in the NHL is a clear win. He’ll always be an energy favourite of this city and is forever a Stanley Cup Champion with Florida.

In The Crease – Devin Cooley with his first rough outing of the season. The first goal I would like to see a defender on the shooter in the slot, but it didn’t happen. The crease going home should return to Dustin Wolf – who played in the third period. It wasn’t a crazy high danger game, so the Flames netminders not being on top of things really played a major factor. 2.10 expected goals against at 5v5 with four getting past the two netminders. I mean, not being able to score and get the other team to loosen up for chances does actively influence what’s going on, but the goaltender can’t control all of that.