I had the misfortune of attending the Flames 5-2 loss last night. It was, from start to finish, a rather listless affair. The second period in particular was snooze-worthy. Not to mention, of course, the Flames monumental collapse that resulted in the King's 5 unanswered goals (4 in the third). Last night's debacle followed a script similar to the loss to the 'Hawks that halted the Flames 8 game winning streak in mid-November - score some goals early thanks to multiple powerplays and then disappear for the remainder of the contest. Also: Poor decision making in the defensive zone (Ference and Warrener again). Oh! And: a very ordinary Miikka Kiprusoff.
Whatever happened to Calgary over their 1 week lay-off has to be rectified soon. Prior to the break, the Flames were a "3rd period", tight-checking group that ground the opposition down and pulled out ties and victories. In fact, prior to the last 2 losses, Calgary was 12-0-1 when leading going into the 3rd. After their week away from competition, Calgary seem to have inverted their winning formula into: score some goals early and fade over the stretch. The Flames won their first game back against Boston with this dubious new strategem, but largely thanks to the efforts of Kipper. In the recent losses to Edmonton and LA, Calgary's defense has grown more lackluster and Kipper has been very ordinary. Last night, for instance, LA had 5 goals on 18 shots (1 into an empty-net). In the 3rd, Calgary scored 0 goals on 11 shots, and LA scored 4 on 6. Ouch. While this sounds bad, consider that one goal was a deflection off of a Calgary player, one was a flat-out break-away, another was an LA deflection and the last an empty-netter. In fact, scoring chances were rather even over the course of the game - LA's chances were simply opportunisitcally buried (and very ill-timed). Perhaps 2 of the Kings goals were truly stoppable - their 1st, a shot from the high slot, and their 3rd, a long range deflection that beat Kipper because he over-comitted to the original shot. That said, the Flames didn't play a very inspired hockey game overall. The fact that the second period was such a bore is an indictment of their effort - mainly since the Flames should have used it to bury a reeling Kings squad. Instead, Calgary squandered 4 PP opportunities, mustered all of 7 shots, and allowed their opponents back in the game. In the third, the wheels fell off completely. 2 goals 30 seconds apart and the Flames were out of it. In fact, truth be told, they seemed pretty much out of it at the conclusion of the first period...
Blast it all! The last 2 losses have been galling more thanks to their character than to their existence. Both were wins to be had and both were lost due to the failure of the Flames supposed strengths (goaltending, defense). One can only hope that we straighten up and fly right before the upcoming games against the Canucks...
Positives:
- Dion Phanuef. Great plays to set-up both Calgary goals.
- Err...McCarty had a nice hit in the first period.
- Iginla pots a PP goal.
Negatives:
- Relinquish 2 goal lead to lose 5-2.
- Give up 5 unanswered goals.
- The second period. The Flames looked like they were simply going through the motions. Couldn't execute even the most elementary plays. no real puck pursuit, passion or finish.
- Fall into 3rd place in the NW division.
- Kipper. Not terribly sharp when the game was on the line.
- Ference and Warrener. Hmmm, where to start? Were -3 and -2 respectively, for a combined -9 over the last 2 games. The Kings scored the game tying PP goal on a Warrener penalty as well. Also, Demitra's break-away occured thanks to a Warrener/Ference gaffe. Simply horrid.
- Iginla. Was pretty much invisble after scoing his PP goal. Ended up a -3 on the night.
- Wiemer. Just useless.
- Simon. Didn't really do much besides get a bone-headed "unsportsmanlike" penalty.
That's all I can think of right now. There's probably more.
Oh, and here's a parting question - how much do the Flames miss Stephane Yelle?
