Well, the focus will no doubt be on Curtis McElhinney following a Calgary Flames 5-2 loss at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Friday night.  Should some of the focus be on him?  Sure.  Should all of it?  I don’t think so, because it wasn’t a stellar effort for all involved.  The Flames lost for the first time this season…were they terrible?  Not at all, but they also weren’t as complete as they were 1 night previous in Edmonton.

First off on the goaltender, it was a tough outing for Curtis.  Lets face it, he wasn’t great.  The rebound control was the most noticeable thing with him, as it just seemed too many times he would kick the puck too close to a member of the Stars.  His positioning seemed a little off, and he was the recipient of some bad breaks.  No question he needs to be better and needs to play with more confidence.  I’m willing to give it another try…and they have to, because as much as people are going to be screaming for it, it’s going to be very unlikely that anything is going to happen in terms of signing someone.  They need to get him back in, and I believe they will.  Also, credit the guy for sticking around and answering every single question from the media.

But the Flames weren’t great either.  The problem wasn’t in the offensive zone so much, as they had some nice spurts of sustained pressure and nice opportunities.  It was the little things for the Flames tonight…some breakdowns in the defensive zone, and the Stars were able to consistently cycle in their zone.  Passes weren’t crips in the neutral zone, and it was far too easy for the puck to be knocked off the stick.  Some of the credit goes to the Stars however…a very simple gameplan, but they stuck to it.  No question there needs to be improvement in the defensive zone though.

Next up for the Flames is Monday in Chicago.

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