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Quips and Quotes: Flames lose to Dallas 5-4 in Game 2
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Photo credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Pike
Aug 14, 2020, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 14, 2020, 02:18 EDT
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The Calgary Flames lost a tough one on Thursday night, losing 5-4 to the Dallas Stars with a goal allowed with 39.2 seconds left to decide Game 2. Their first round playoff series is now tied 1-1.
Here’s what the topics of discussion were post-game.

Heartbreaking late goal

The Flames clawed their way back from down 4-2 to tie the game at 4-4 late in the third period. But some lacking details in their game led to Dallas’ game-winning goal.
The Athletic’s Darren Haynes summarized it nicely:
Here’s the video:
“It was just blown coverage,” summarized interim coach Geoff Ward.
Lapses in coverage were a theme on the evening, also contributing to Dallas’ first and second goals.

Tkachuk has a rough night

Matthew Tkachuk had a pretty awful night, by most standards. He took a stick in the groin off a face-off while battling with Jamie Benn in the first period. He spent most of the period in the Flames locker room.
Then, he got sandwiched between Benn and Jamie Oleksiak in the third period, bonking heads with Oleksiak and heading straight to the Flames room – probably for a concussion evaluation, based on the nature of the collision.
Ward had no updates on Tkachuk’s injury status or availability for Game 3 post-game. He was limited to just 10:53 of ice time overall.

The line shuffle

Looking for a spark, the Flames shuffled lines a little bit in the second period. They swapped Elias Lindholm and Sam Bennett, creating lines that looked like this:
  • Gaudreau – Monahan – Bennett
  • Mangiapane – Backlund – Tkachuk
  • Lucic – Lindholm – Dube
  • Jankowski – Ryan – Rieder
Missing Tkachuk in the third period, the lines got shuffled again:
  • Gaudreau – Monahan – Rieder
  • Mangiapane – Backlund – Lindholm
  • Lucic – Bennett – Dube

Dube doing Dube things

Rookie Dillon Dube scored the opening goal 19 seconds into the game. It made a bit of history.

Onto the next one

In the Qualifying Round, the Flames laid an egg in Game 2 and lost to Winnipeg. Game 3 was the very next day and they shook the rust off. The hope for the club is they can take the urgency from the third period into Game 3 on Friday evening and toss everything else into the dust bin.
This is the rare occasion for a hockey club where a back-to-back situation may be just what the doctor ordered for the team to regroup.

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