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Flames Post-Game: Defensive lapses sink Flames in Dallas
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Photo credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Dec 8, 2024, 22:47 EST
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For the better part of two periods, the Calgary Flames went toe-to-toe with the Dallas Stars. However, after the teams effectively split the first two periods, the Flames lost their defensive composure and, consequently, lost the game.
Powered by three third period goals, the Stars beat the Flames by a 6-2 score to run Calgary’s road winless skid to eight games (0-5-3).

The rundown

The Flames had some jump early and opened the scoring 60 seconds into this contest. Martin Pospisil caused a turnover with a hit in the neutral zone, which propelled Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau into the Dallas zone on an odd-man rush. Kadri fed Huberdeau and he fired the puck past Jake Oettinger to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
However, Dallas answered back in an improbable situation: a Calgary power play. As a short stretch of four-on-four play expired, Kadri had his pocket picked in the neutral zone by Wyatt Johnston. Johnston skated into the Flames’ zone, darted between Kevin Bahl and Rasmus Andersson, and chipped the puck past Dustin Wolf to tie the game at 1-1.
First period shots were 12-5 Stars. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 4-4 (high-danger chances were 4-1 Stars).
Dallas managed to take the lead midway through the second period after a successful penalty kill. The penalized player, Jason Robertson, stepped out of the box and went in on an odd-man rush with Oskar Back. Robertson, with Martin Pospisil chasing him down, opted to shoot, beating Wolf to give the Stars a 2-1 lead.
But as the period wound down, the Flames managed to tie things up. Daniil Miromanov blasted a shot on net. Oettinger made the save, but the rebound went off of his pads, off Connor Zary’s skate (driving to the slot) and into the net to tie the game at 2-2.
Second period shots were 14-7 Flames. Five-on-five chances were 9-5 Flames (high-danger chances were 4-3 Flames).
About five minutes into the third period, the Stars began pressing and the wheels fell off a bit for Calgary.
First, Andersson pinched and got caught up in the Dallas zone – the Flames turned over the puck before a forward could rotate back to cover the point. An odd-man rush by Dallas followed, with the trailing Flames checker chasing the puck-carrier, leaving Roope Hintz wide open for a pass from Esa Lindell, and Hintz redirected the puck through Wolf’s five-hole to give Dallas a 3-2 lead.
A little while later, Wolf made a poorly-executed pass behind his net. He fed the puck to Jamie Benn, rather than someone from his own team. Benn passed to Sam Steel, and Steel fired the puck through Wolf’s pads as he slid back into the crease. That made it 4-2 Stars.
Shortly afterwards, the Stars got a chance in the Flames’ zone. Wolf made the initial save but the Flames couldn’t clear the puck, and after being cycled back to the point a shot by Nils Lundqvist deflected in off Back, beating Wolf inside the far post to make it 5-2 Stars.
Thomas Harley beat Wolf on a four-on-for sequence in the final minute of the game (with Matt Duchene firmly providing a screen) to make it 6-2 Stars.
Third period shots were 12-9 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 11-10 Flames (high-danger chances were 3-1 Stars).

Why the Flames lost

Are the Flames, as currently constructed, capable of beating the Stars? Sure. But there’s a visible skill gap between the two teams, and as a result the Flames needed to out-work and out-execute the Stars – and get superb goaltending – to stick around in this game. It worked for two periods. It stopped working in the third period.
And not to pick on players – you win and lose as a group – but Andersson was minus-4 and Kevin Bahl was minus-5 (with a pair of first period minors). That’s an uncharacteristically rough night for what’s usually the club’s best pairing.

Red Warrior

MacKenzie Weegar led the Flames in ice time and was somehow a plus player (at plus-2). We’ll give him the nod.

Turning point

The Flames were out-scored 4-0 in the final 15 minutes of the third period. Woof.

This and that

The Flames were without Ryan Lomberg, as he remained in Calgary with his wife for the birth of their third child. In his absence, Andrei Kuzmenko rotated back in after being scratched for two games.

Up next

The Flames (13-10-5) are off to scenic Nashville. They play the Predators on Tuesday night.

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