Welcome to Instant Reaction, where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Calgary Flames game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
The Calgary Flames worked hard on Tuesday night against the Utah Hockey Club. They hustled. They battled. They just didn’t have enough speed or offensive flair to out-score their mistakes on the second half of a back-to-back.
The Flames’ playoff chances took another big hit by way of a 3-1 road loss to Utah.

The rundown

Puck possession was fairly back and forth in the opening period of hockey, but Utah seemed to get more good looks – and higher quality looks – in the first 20. But the Flames did a pretty capable job of hanging in there and not making too many mistakes.
Well, until late in the period.
At 17:46 in the first, Utah finally broke through. They managed to get puck possession in the Flames’ zone and stranded their fourth line and third pairing in their own zone and started cycling. Finally, Alex Kerfoot threw a pass from the corner towards the slot area for Kevin Stenlund. Stenlund blasted a one-timer past Dustin Wolf to give the Hockey Club a 1-0 lead.
First period shots were 12-12. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 12-5 Utah (high-danger chances 6-1 Utah).
The second period saw quality possession dominated by Utah, but featured a few wild momentum swings.
The Flames had a good chance 97 seconds in, as Mikael Backlund threw the puck on net and it looked like it beat Karel Vejmelka. Play continued until the play was whistled down on a high stick, and then the shot was reviewed.
The puck was ruled to have not fully crossed the goal line, so it was not a goal.
On the very next play, the Flames turned the puck over in the neutral zone and Sean Durzi sent Barrett Hayton in on Wolf alone, and Hayton’s backhander beat the Flames’ netminder to make it 2-0 Utah.
But later in the period, the Flames got one back. Morgan Frost chased down an errant puck in the Utah zone. He didn’t grab the puck, but he and Yegor Sharangovich pressured Utah into a turnover up the wall. Rasmus Andersson fired a shot from the point that beat Vejmelka to cut the Utah lead to 2-1.
Second period shots were 10-9 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 13-7 Utah (high-dangers chances were 7-0 Utah).
The Flames pressed throughout the third period. They had a lot of looks. But Vejmelka was sharp in Utah’s net, and the Flames could not translate zone time and dangerous chances into goals.
With Wolf on the bench for the extra attacker, Clayton Keller scored on the empty Flames net to ice this one as a 3-1 Utah victory.
Third period shots were 11-7 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 10-3 Flames (high-dangers chances were 5-0 Flames).

Why the Flames lost

Bless ’em, but the Flames looked slow against Utah. That’s not meant as a knock against the Flames. They were on the second half of a back-to-back after a heck of a game against Colorado on Monday night, and they were playing a young, fast, rested Utah team. And Utah used those young, rested legs to make life tough for the Flames.

Red Warrior

We’ll give this to Dustin Wolf. He had to be busy and sharp in the first two periods, and he did what he could to keep this game close. Unfortunately, he got very little run support.

Turning point

The momentum in this game swung hard between the Backlund non-goal and the second Utah goal. The Flames didn’t have enough to claw their way back.

This and that

The Flames have yet to win a game in Utah or against Utah.

Up next

The Flames (35-27-12) are headed home. They host the Anaheim Ducks at the Saddledome on Thursday night.

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