The Calgary Flames headed to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning on Thursday evening in the second game of their crucial six game road trip. The Flames played a pretty good road game. They played a pretty tight-checking game and didn’t give up very much… but they simply could not solve Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy.

The Flames lost to the Lightning by a 3-0 score.

The highlight of the first period for the Flames was a superb stop by Dustin Wolf on Brandon Hagel.

With Nazem Kadri in the box for an offensive zone tripping minor, Nikita Kucherov went to pass the puck across the Flames’ zone. But his pass bonked off MacKenzie Weegar’s skate and into the Flames net to make it 1-0 Lightning.

First period shots were 7-7. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 7-5 Flames (high-danger chances were 3-2 Flames).

The Flames looked strong in the second period, but they had a pair of power plays where they just couldn’t generate very much in terms of dangerous-looking chances.

Second period shots were 9-8 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 13-5 Flames (high-danger chances were 5-2 Flames).

The Lightning got some insurance early in the third period. They entered the Flames zone with numbers but the Flames defended the initial rush well. But Hagel threw a pass to Erik Cernak, entering the zone as the trailer. Cernak skated right down into the slot and fired the puck past Wolf to make it 2-0 Lightning.

Hagel added an empty-netter with Wolf on the bench for the extra attacker, and that gave the Lightning a 3-0 victory.

Third period shots were 11-7 Flames.

It’s hard to win when you don’t score, and it’s hard to score when your power play is as flat as the Flames was against the Lightning. They played a pretty good road effort, but they needed their special teams to be a difference-maker for them… and they weren’t. The game was up for grabs for their power play a few times… and the Flames couldn’t grab it.

Let’s go with Wolf. He allowed two goals, sure, but one was a bad bounce on a power play and the second was a clear look by Cernak. He gave the Flames a chance against a strong team in a tough building.

Cernak’s insurance marker was a tough one to give up, as with how Vasilevskiy looked, it was extremely unlikely they’d be able to get a pair past him.

This was Blake Coleman’s 600th NHL game.

This was the Flames’ third shutout loss of the season.

The Flames (28-22-8) are headed to south Florida. They face the Panthers on Saturday afternoon.

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