Im not terribly happy about the Flames making me look like a prophet with their recent string of offensive futility. With the shut-out loss to the Predators last night the Flames have only scored 1 goal in the last two games. And, despite having a very healthy 10-2-1 record over the month of November, Calgary only managed to score 3+ goals 3 times this month (and this season) in wins over Vancouver (4-3), Phoenix (4-3) and Colorado (5-3). As it stands currently, the Flames are 28th in the league in goals for, ahead of only Columbus and Florida. Their current goal total, 62, extrapolated over the course of an entire season equates to 195 goals overall. Keep in mind that the league leading Ottawa Senators have already scored 105 goals in 22 games so far this year. They are currently on track for a 380 goal total. And while it's technically true that "it doesn't matter how much you win by" and "the East and West conferences play a different game", it's going to be increasingly difficult to be successful if we remain near the bottom of the league in terms of scoring. The 2 most recent losses are an eloquent example of this fact. The games against both Edmonton and Nashville were very winnable contests...for any team that can score more than 2.38 goals/game (on average).
I've already posted something bemoaning the lack of production from both primary and secondary sources on the Flames, so I should probably temper this rant with some cautious optimism. Which is - I dont think this will go on all season long. The Flames, while not especially blessed with offensive talent, have a decent enough group of players to combat this apparent impotence. There's little chance that Jarome Iginla will remain as relatively ineffectual as he's been (offensive stats wise) thus far for the season's entirety. Lombardi will return, Kobasew will score, Leopold will get some powerplay goals and Langkow will actually start to hit the net. I think. Which is the operative phrase here. There is always the "acquire a skilled center" option, but I imagine that will be an early March, trade deadline kind of deal - mainly due to budget/cap restraints. So the hope for some sort of offensive supplement being injected into the lineup before then is probably misplaced. I guess we can only hope for the Flames combined talent to get it together and start burying their chances more regularly. This habit of making opposing goalies look like superstars is starting to wear thin...
On a seperate topic, I should probably afford the much maligned Andrew Ference some kudos for his performance last night. He lead the team in hits with 5 and had 3 shots on goal. As long as Andrew continues to have those kinds of nights, without multiple (-) signs nestled beside his name, I'll be happy.
