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 headed to Winnipeg on Sunday to face the Jets, finishing off a weekend back-to-back set. The Flames battled hard, but their execution just wasn’t up to snuff and they ended up chasing for much of the game.
The Flames dropped a 5-2 loss to the Jets to close out their two game road trip.
The rundown
The Jets were all over the Flames early on, with the Jets looking like a rested bunch and the Flames looking like a group that had played and travelled the day before.
Five minutes in, the Jets got on the board with a really nice individual effort. Kyle Connor walked into the Flames’ zone, cut between Daniil Miromanov and Clark Bishop, then went backhand shelf over top of Dan Vladar to make it 1-0 Jets.
First period shots were 9-3 Jets. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 4-3 Jets (high-danger chances were 2-1 Flames).
The Flames came out strong in the second period, generating a ton of zone time and quality scoring chances.
But because life (and hockey) is unfair sometimes, the Jets are the ones that managed to get the next goal. The Flames struggled to clear their own zone, which led to a Jets scoring chance. Vladar laid out to make the initial save, but the Flames were a bit careless with attempting to clear the zone, with Mikael Backlund inadvertently setting up Mason Appleton for a shot that beat Vladar to give the Jets a 2-0 lead.
The Flames answered back on the power play later in the period. After Matt Coronato drew a cross-checking minor, the Flames had a superb man advantage shift with tons of puck movement. With a bunch of traffic blocking Eric Comrie’s view, MacKenzie Weegar cranked a point shot that found the Jets’ net to cut Winnipeg’s lead to 2-1.
But in the final minute of the second period, the Jets padded their lead. Gabe Vilardi was sprung into the zone and beat Vladar off the rush to give the Jets a 3-1 lead.
Second period shots were 12-9 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 6-5 Flames (high-danger chances were 3-3).
The Flames took a too-many-men minor early in the third period and the Jets’ power play scored, with Vilardi getting his second of the game to make it 4-1.
The Flames got one back a bit later, though. Off a face-off win for the Flames, Jake Bean snuck down from the point and fed Nazem Kadri around the blue paint. Kadri jammed the puck past Eric Comrie to make it 4-2 Jets.
But on another power play, Mark Scheifele scored to give the Jets a 5-2 lead.
The Jets held on for the victory.
Third period shots were 9-7 Jets. Five-on-five scoring chances were 5-4 Jets (high-danger chances were 4-2 Jets).
Why the Flames lost
It was the third game in four nights for the Flames with travel. They were missing Kevin Bahl and their blueliners were all playing more than usual. They were playing a rested, deep Jets team. The Flames didn’t fall to pieces in this one, but they were chasing for much of the game. They just lacked the energy and execution to beat the Jets.
This wasn’t a great game for Dan Vladar in net. He didn’t have much of a chance on the first two goals, but the last three he allowed were ones that he saw a lot of. You don’t expect him to stop every Grade-A that his team gives up, but this was the type of game where the Flames needed him to prevent a couple of the goals that he allowed from going in.
Red Warrior
Let’s go with Nazem Kadri. He scored a goal, he was really strong at the face-off dot, and his possession numbers were quite good.
Turning point
The Flames had a superb second period. Unfortunately, they ended up further behind the Jets than they started the period due to Vilardi’s last-minute goal. That one really took the air out of their sails.
This and that
With Kevin Bahl unavailable after leaving Saturday’s game with an upper body injury, Jake Bean returned to the lineup on the third pairing.
Up next
The Flames (24-17-7) are headed home. They host the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at the Saddledome.
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