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It wasn’t a complete effort for the Calgary Flames on Saturday night at the Dome, as they fell 3-1 at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings. A few people have said it, and it’s pretty accurate…the Flames probably played a grand total of 15 minutes of good hockey, and they weren’t all that great for the rest. On the other hand, the Red Wings stuck with it the entire time and were able to come away with the win.
The Flames started off fast in the 1st period and were outshooting the Wings 4-0 at one point…but the Red Wings swung things back their way for most of the opening frame and came away with a 10-6 shot advantage. Even though Calgary scored their only goal in the 2nd period, they were not great overall and Detroit scored 2 of their goals in the middle frame as well. The Flames had jump for the first half of the third period, but it seemed that everything evaporated after that, as Calgary wasn’t able to break through with a goal.
Give Detroit credit, they played well and I think it was/is FAR too premature to start saying they won’t be near the top of the West at the end of the season. But let’s focus on the Flames…it just wasn’t good enough. In the 45 minutes when they weren’t playing well, there were a lot of things that were going wrong. Battles were being lost on a consistent basis; guys were making bad reads; and there was a real lack in shots on goal. The Flames attempted 43 shots (21 got through), but a lot of them weren’t from the tough areas of the ice.
Individually, it wasn’t a great night for the captain. Jarome Iginla was credited with 5 give-aways (worst on either team), he was making bad reads, and wasn’t at the level he had been in the last 4 or 5 games. Brent Sutter said after the game he wasn’t impressed with either Iginla or Curtis Glencross…as a result, they were split up in the 3rd period and Iginla-Jokinen-Boyd made up the top line for the final frame. Cory Sarich also had a rough game on the blueline…he was victimized on the late 2-on-1 in the 1st period, and was beat far too many times on the night. On the plus side, another great game from Robyn Regehr…he’s rounded into form and has been the best defenceman on the team the last little while. Regehr is now +8 in his last 5 games.
So, this ends the much talked about string of 5 games in 20 days for the Flames…all at home. I think it played a factor. Assistant Coach Ryan McGill said as much in the postgame show…they need to get back to playing hockey on a really regular basis. He also said, however, it’s not an excuse. Is at an excuse? Of course not…good teams battle through dumb schedules. Lets see if they play any different in November when they have 14 games in 30 days…10 of them on the road. First up…Wednesday night in Dallas at 6:30.
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It’s strange. Year after year, no matter who the Red Wings have in their lineup, they always seem to have ONE more player on the ice than their opposition. That is to say, every time the camera pans the ice to follow the puck, there is always a Red Wing there to get it.
Also, it’s quite apparent that the Red Wings conduct their practices at game speed. There is NOTHING they seem to do in slow motion.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The Flames lack killer instinct. When they have a team down, they don’t go for the jugular. Until they do that, no one will be afraid of them.
PS: Agree on the Red Wings man…that’s how they work and they’ve got a system in place. You can tell by watching even 5 minutes of a game. As for the Flames…I don’t know if this game in particular counts as lack of killer instinct…they lacked more than that on Saturday night.
- SultanI just…they should have…they didn’t do…why did they…what were they…
The thing that frustrates me and I think alot of others, is that we have seen what this team is capable of when they stick to the gameplan and play the way the coaches have it designed. They can be downright dominant, but for some reason have not been able to do that for a whole game. We’ve said it’s coming together, they’re improving and we look for the positives and try to look past the negatives.
There are still 70 games to go so there is alot of time left to not just get it together, but to keep it together. Being at the Dome as often as I am I hear the fans talk. Some is dismissed as frustrated statements, some is just anger or ignorance. But the majority this year know that this is one the best teams in the teams in the NHL…on paper. Everyone is aware that this team should seriously contend for a Stanley Cup run.
The question for you Pat, even though it is still early…we’ve had 4 different head coaches the past 5 seasons now and we’re still asking the same questions or voicing the same concerns as the past 5 seasons. I don’t think we can point at the coach, it’s at the team. But where or who on the team is the real issue? Is it the core players or part of them. Is it the role players, the wrong mix, bad chemistry? I know these are the questions Darryl has been looking for an answer to. Is it as simple as one answer or is it a complicated physics formula?
PS: Ha, I wish I knew that answer Bob…because if I did, I’d be paid handsomely to coach the Flames. You’re right, to this point no one has been able to figure it out. I do know that Daryl said a number of months ago that this can be a difficult group of players to coach. Maybe Brent is working through that a little right now.
- Bob in the Abbey