The Calgary Flames dropped a 5-2 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night. Here are selected reactions from players following the game.

“We couldn’t execute a pass. I think we were playing slow. But give them credit, they were in our face, they played their system to a tee. I thought as the game got going we got our legs and started making shorter passes and playing together more.” – Flames goaltender Mike Smith on his team’s struggles in the first game of the season.

“I think the power play’s crucial. It wins you and loses you games. For us there’s no excuse. We’ve practiced it enough. We should’ve been a little bit more crisp. I think they did a good job on our entries. We were getting stuck at the line, we weren’t getting enough speed and then we were getting frustrated and sucking energy out of us. It was deflating our bench a little bit. That happens, but we just got to be a little better on the power play. We score one of those goals early and it’s a different game.” – Flames forward James Neal on the team’s zero-for-seven power play performance.