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 aren’t a highly-skilled team, but they’re a team that can beat highly-skilled teams when they play their style of hockey. On Thursday evening against the Colorado Avalanche, the Flames did not effectively play their structured, stifling checking style of hockey, and so they were at the mercy of the Avalanche’s skill.
The Flames lost to Colorado by a 4-2 score.
The rundown
Early in the first period, the Flames drew a pair of penalties – Samuel Girard was called for hooking, then Calvin de Haan for delay-of-game. On the resulting extended five-on-three power play, the Flames scored, as Jonathan Huberdeau made a patient play and picked the bottom corner on Avalanche netminder Mackenzie Blackwood. That gave the Flames a 1-0 lead.
The remainder of the frame was fairly back-and-forth, with the Avalanche getting some increasingly better chances as the period wore on. It looked like Avalanche blueliner Sam Malinski tied the game with a nice point shot that found the top corner behind Dustin Wolf. However, the Flames challenged the goal for being preceded by an off-side zone entry… and the goal was washed out.
First period shots were 11-9 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 10-6 Avalanche (high-danger chances were 6-1 Avalanche).
Early in the second period, the Avalanche tied things up for real. They moved the puck around in the offensive zone, and then Cale Makar fired a point shot with some traffic in front of Wolf that found the net. That made it a 1-1 game.
A little bit later, the Avalanche put on a puck management and cycling clinic in the Flames’ zone. The moved things around for awhile. Nathan MacKinnon fired a shot off the crossbar… and Artturi Lehkonen fired home the rebound to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead.
Late in the period, Morgan Frost took a check-to-the-head minor penalty. On the resulting power play, a MacKinnon one-timer was deflected by Martin Necas and beat Wolf inside the far post to give the Avalanche a 3-1 lead.
Second period shots were 17-4 Avalanche. Five-on-five scoring chances were 10-1 Avalanche (high-danger chances were 5-0).
The Avalanche made it 4-1 midway through the third period, as Malinski sprang Necas on a breakaway and he beat Wolf glove-side.
Rasmus Andersson cut Colorado’s lead to 4-2 late in the third period, as he threw a puck on net that beat Blackwood five-hole.
But that’s all she wrote. The Avalanche held on for the victory.
Third period shots were 14-8 Flames.
Why the Flames lost
The Flames need to play a structured, patient style of hockey to beat high-skill teams. They’ve shown themselves capable of doing that in the past. Unfortunately, they just couldn’t completely maintain their structure or composure, and the Avalanche made them pay for it.
Red Warrior
Huberdeau had a bunch of shots and a goal, so we’ll give him the nod.
Turning point
There’s an alternate universe where the Flames don’t give up a goal with 17.8 seconds left in the second period and head into the third period needing a goal to tie things up. Unfortunately, that’s not what transpired, and the Avalanche had a two-goal lead through two periods and never looked back.
This and that
Adam Klapka fought Miles Wood in the second period after Klapka laid a hit on Nathan MacKinnon. (Klapka had been knocked onto his backside by MacKinnon in the first period.)
Oliver Kylington received an ovation after his return to Calgary was acknowledged during a first period TV timeout.
Up next
The Flames (26-21-7) finish off their commitments prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday night when they host the Seattle Kraken.
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