The Calgary Flames won a game in Edmonton on Thursday they had no business winning. A combination of resiliency and self-made puck luck carried the day. Calgary also got a gift on a Stuart Skinner misplay. Ultimately, they erased a three-goal deficit and came back to win, 4-3 (2-1) in a marathon shootout.
Nazem Kadri netted the shootout winner. Morgan Frost also converted his shootout attempt with his signature tactic. Frost goes in with speed down the left side. Then he slows almost to a stop and inches his way over the middle. When the goalie is off his angle, Frost fires. He’s scored several shootout goals that way, both with Philadelphia and Calgary.
The Flames arrived late in Vancouver. They got to their hotel at around 3 a.m. PDT. They went out and played a better overall game against the Canucks than they played against the Oilers. Nevertheless. the match got away from the Flames in the third period. Calgary lost, 5-1. The Flames did not lack for promising-looking attack opportunities. A third period Frost goal broke up Thatcher Demko’s shutout bid. However, the tally was otherwise meaningless.
Three deciding factors
- The decision to start Dustin Wolf on back-to-back nights didn’t pay off. Demko outplayed the Calgary netminder significantly on this night. The Flames couldn’t afford to chase the game again in a road B2B. Unfortunately, Wolf allowed a rare-for-him soft goal to put Vancouver ahead in the first period. Later, Wolf allowed a couple goals that fell into the “not soft but not unstoppable” category. Thursday wasn’t the young goalie’s night.
- The Flames had a bunch of “almost” plays, especially in the first two periods. They’d look well set up to either score or force a ten-bell save. However, the pass or shot attempts would be off by just a hair. It fell into a “wash, rinse, repeat” pattern. Most notably, the Flames had a power play sequence where they hemmed in the Canucks for a prolonged stretch. A goal felt more and more inevitable with each failed Vancouver clearing attempt. Instead, Calgary got nothing from it because they were just a fraction off on the pass or shot attempt.
- The Flames had good jump and pace for two periods. In the third period, however, their legs seemed to get heavy. The spots where Kadri in particular often steps up to create momentum just didn’t pan out.
Questions and observations
- Head coach Ryan Huska altered his lines somewhat in the second game. Matt Coronato and Matvei Gridon played with Kadri. Frost centered Joel Farabee and Yegor Sharangovich. The latter line was Calgary’s best on Thursday. Meanwhile, the head coach elected not to start young defenseman Zayne Parekh.
- The officials reviewed two different plays for potential boarding majors. They made the ruling both times, reducing the majors to two-minute minors. However, in my opinion, they made the wrong call on both. The MacKenzie Weegar hit was shoulder-to-shoulder and not in range of a typical boarding infraction. It shouldn’t have been a penalty at all. The Elias Pettersson play a few minutes later was absolutely worthy of a penalty. Nevertheless, it was still a poor ruling. That one should have been a major: hit in the numbers, dangerous distance from the wall.
- Farabee liked the Philadelphia version of the player he was before a neck injury. (He’s long since fully recovered but has never gotten back to his “A” level on a long-term basis. He was a catalyst on Thursday. Strong on the forecheck. Got to the “greasy” areas. Solid on the PK. Good support for Frost and Sharangovich. That’s the player Farabee can still be, and needs to be.
- Every team has condensed schedules this year due to the Olympic break in February. Nevertheless, it’s downright diabolical to start the season with a three-in-four gauntlet. Moreover, the starting road-road back to back involved a time zone change. On Saturday, the Flames are back to Alberta for the home opener against the St. Louis Blues at 2:00 p.m. MDT.
