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On Thursday evening, the Calgary Flames hosted the Carolina Hurricanes with their 5-0-1 record on the line. Unfortunately, they fell 4-2 for the first regulation loss of the season.

The rundown

The Hurricanes scored the opening goal in the first period, as Seth Jarvis found himself alone in front of the net on the Hurricanes power play to beat Daniel Vladař. Rasmus Andersson skated up to high, opening up Jarvis after receiving a great pass from the point.
They extended their lead early in the second period, as Vladař overslid the puck and a bad bounce saw Jack Roslovic all alone on the doorstep with a gaping net. It was a good attempt for the Flames netminder to get back in position, at least.
Just over a minute later, Vladař allowed a juicy rebound to an undefended point with Martin Nečas receiving the puck.  The 25-year-old made no mistake on his shot, beating Vladař above the glove in a goal that the Flames netminder would surely love to have back.
However, the resilient Flames made a game of it, as Jake Bean’s seeing-eye shot from the half boards found a way past the Hurricanes’ netminder for his first goal as a Flame.
The Flames got to within one with just under seven minutes left to go in the game, as Jonathan Huberdeau fired home a loose puck off a rebound to make it 3-2 for the Flames. However, the comeback fell short as the Hurricanes would bury the puck into an empty net shortly after Vladař made it to the bench.
All good things must end, and the Flames’ six-game point streak did so on Thursday.

Why the Flames lost

As resilient as the 2024-25 Calgary Flames have been this season, allowing the other team to take a three-goal lead is often not the recipe for winning hockey.
While they may have gotten away with it in the season opener against the Vancouver Canucks, the Hurricanes are known for their shutdown defence and trap-style hockey. The Flames made it close, a testament to this team’s heart, but they have to avoid going down three goals.

Red Warrior

One aspect of the Flames season that has been firing at all cylinders is offence from their defenceman. Thursday’s game was no different, as Jake Bean scored his first goal as a Flame to open the scoring. Signing this past season, Bean scored a career-high seven goals and 25 points in 2021-22 with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Turning point

The turning point of this game was the Hurricanes’ two quick strike goals early in the second period. While there was still plenty of time left in the game, going down 3-0 is a hard deficit to come back from, and the third goal ended up being the game winner.

This and that

Last season, Jonathan Huberdeau scored 12 goals and 52 points. This season, he already had a quarter of the goals and is currently on pace for 85 points as he has seven points in seven games. Defenceman Rasmus Andersson leads the team in points with nine and he’s been nothing short of terrific.
Daniel Vladař allowed three goals, but had a great game between the pipes, saving 39 of 42 shots for a .929 save percentage. In fact, the two teams combined for 75 shots on goal this game.

Up next

The Flames (5-0-1) return to action on Saturday night when they host the Winnipeg Jets.
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