4-Missing Game, Covid Protocol Postponed 3 Games
Flames Weekly looks at how The Calgary Flame done last week. Be sure to check in every Tuesday to see my week and to find out which plot and players take center stage. Please use the comments section below to let me know how you think the team has performed, or post any ideas or questions about Flames.
Well, it’s official. It’s safe to say that the Flames are hitting midway through their first rudimentary patch of the 2021-22 campaign. The week started with a few games where the boys in red lost, but really should have won. It soon ended with the team’s worst attempt of the season on Saturday night. But here’s the main kicker – COVID-19 is now running rampant through Calgary’s locker rooms, postponing the next three (or more) competitions. If this isn’t a low score, then I don’t know what is.
Angry Sutter points his finger at the soft D-Core after losing to the shark
Last Tuesday, the Flames made a frivolous attempt against a good team of Vegas Golden Knights. When they beat San Jose, I expected a solid response from the visitors, and in the first half of the game, that’s exactly what I saw. Dillon Dube put Calgary on the board after 97 seconds of the game, while Johnny Gaudreau beat him Day 10 of the season to give the Flames a 2-1 lead after the first half. After call-up rookie Adam Ruzicka scored his first NHL score early in the second half, it looked like the boys in red would roll against the Sharks.
Unfortunately, the Flames took just eight minutes to fully clear up, as the Sharks turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead in the third inning. Head coach Darryl Sutter was furious after the game, criticizing his defense for their sloppy play.
“Our defense had a really tough night,” Sutter told the media after the game. “Six defenders played like an exhibition game… To be honest, those weren’t great goals. First, the penalty was not needed and they scored an easy goal. The other is a guard’s change of course. Those are the defenders’ mistakes.”
Related: Flames’ Sutter calls for team after disappointing loss to sharks
Flames bench manager didn’t perform with his criticism, as he also called his rookie backup Dan Vladar, who just lost the first rule of the season. “Our scorer must be better than theirs… (Vladar) had trouble with traffic and trouble with rebounds.” In the end, this is a game the away team should really be trying to win and Sutter has every right to tear his team apart.
The fire fell into a storm during overtime
After being charred for their negligent effort in San Jose, the Flames returned home to the Dome Thursday night to host one of the best teams at the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes. They call these competitions “the board game” and the boys in red have certainly given their all against a tough opponent, and will probably deserve a better fate. After a 1-0 lead after the first inning, the home team ended a game of close examination in the middle of the second stanza after Noah Hanifin scored a beautiful goal from that point on, making up for a missed penalty kick earlier.
The third period saw Flames miss a few glorious scoring opportunities that somehow crossed the goal line, but were eventually swept away at the last second. Early in the third half, a Dube shot darted dangerously across the line and then towards the end of the goal, a Rasmus Andersson shot smashed the Hurricanes defender’s leg but miraculously missed it. Those missed opportunities all came at a heavy cost, as Flames’ lifeless play led 0-5 and couldn’t find the key.
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This matchup needed an extra goal to decide and for whatever reason the Reds have been absolutely terrifying for the extra time this season has added. That worrisome trend continued into Thursday night, when Sebastian Aho OT’s second goal of the night at 4:07, helping Calgary lose its sixth extra time of the season. Jacob Markstrom suggested bluntly, and half sarcastic reaction When reporters asked him how the Flames could improve their 3v3 game, “Score before you score,” he said. I cannot argue with that.
The futile effort against bruises prolongs the loss of time
After losing a few games they should have won, the Flames ended their week on Saturday night by losing a game they never really had a chance to win. The Boston Bruins are a solidly structured team that promises to be another good test for a Flames team reeling from three consecutive losses. While the home team had more control of the game, another night Markstrom is usually reliable and a few defensive breakdowns ensured Calgary was 3-0 down first Matthew Tkachuk finally answered with the 12th of the year between the second frame.
While The Flames had a pretty good result when they scored the opener, they struggled to bounce back in games where their opponents took the lead. This is the ninth game that Calgary have conceded their first goal and they will be 2-4-3 this season when that happens. So going 3-1 and then 4-1 was simply too high a mountain to climb and the hosts dropped their fourth consecutive drop. A senseless goal from Sean Monahan late in the game caused the final to lose 4-2.
COVID-19 Protocol Turn off flames until December 16
NHL monday announcement The Flames’ next three games will be postponed at least through Thursday, December 16. Officials pulled the trigger after six players and one staff member engaged in the league’s COVID protocol over a 24-hour period. hour. There is a real concern of continued contagion in the group, so it is very likely that we will see more positive cases in the coming days. Fasten your fans’ seat belts, we could see the team’s fortunes go from bad to worse in the coming weeks.
As long as the affected players do not develop symptoms, their quarantine will end 10 days after their first positive COVID-19 test was taken. That means the Flames won’t have some of their best players until at least December 21, when Calgary is supposed to host the Anaheim Ducks. Those six players in Covid protocols will obviously be left out of the lineup as the boys in red are expected to return to action this Saturday to entertain the Columbus Blue Jackets, so I’m very excited. Curious who will be brought up from the farm team to fill in the many holes in the roster.
Winners and losers of the week
Not only is this the team’s first winless week, but with the shocking announcement of a match postponement, it’s also the Flames’ strangest week of the 2021-22 season. With no shortage of storylines over the past seven days, there’s certainly a lot to unpack. Get started right away and decide who makes the biggest impression – positive or negative.
- Strange and wild Juuso Välimäki The saga continues with another surprise turn. 23 year old man has been sent down went to the American Hockey League on December 2, played a few games for the Stockton Heat, and then was called up on December 7 while the team was in San Jose. The young Finn watched the game from the press box and was then promptly sent back to the minors the next day. Although it is strange, I am almost certain Välimäki will be called back this week to fill Nikita Zadorov with COVID, who will have to be in isolation for at least 10 days.
- Speaking of that San Jose game, a few Flames hit major milestones that night. When Gaudreau scored his 10th goal in his first season, it also marked his 180th career goal. And, Tkachuk’s support for the aforementioned goal is his 300th career point only in his 375th game. The 23-year-old is only the second player of the 2016 draft class to reach that milestone, after compatriot Auston Matthews of America. Congratulations Johnny and Chucky!
- Keeping with positive vibes, Gaudreau’s goal in San Jose also ensured that the Flames became the first team in the league to have four players hit double-scoring numbers. Now Andrew Mangiapane is 17 years old, Tkachuk is 12 years old, Elias Lindholm has 11 and Gaudreau has 10. That’s great news for the team’s top scorer, but it’s the ability to score deep that is Calgary’s hallmark. Milan Lucic there are seven points so far this year, but the bottom six run out pretty quickly after that.
- It was a very nice celebration, they must have had it twice? I’m a bit confused as the Flames organization honors Lucic’s 1000th NHL game (again) on Thursday night. You see, they had a Presentation “silver stick” near the end of last season in honor of the 33-year-old. However, as no fans were allowed in the stands during the 2020-21 campaign, the powers that be, decided that this would be a classy move to pay homage to the big fan first. Scotiabank Saddledome and Boston Bruins’ 18,000 loving followers, Lucic played 566 games with. Congratulations Looch! (Again)
- The Pacific division is a lot more competitive than many NHL pros think. Teams like the Ducks, Sharks, and Kings are significantly better than expected, and even the underground Vancouver Canucks are on a hot streak. That’s both good news and bad news for the Flames this season. The good news is that no one raced against the division, so even after four skates, the red shirt boys only got one point off first place. The bad news is that Calgary has lost 5/7 matches against rivals in the same class. With the exception of the Seattle Kraken Open, there doesn’t seem to be an easy victory in the Pacific.
Last week
Will the Flames really play hockey this week? Your guess is as good as mine. Scheduled competitions with the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs have all been postponed but the NHL could easily reschedule games further if Covid cases continue to increase in the Calgary dressing room. Player testing happens every three days but going forward, Flames will be scanned every day and that could mean more players joining the protocol. The next match on the leaderboard is Saturday night at the Dome against the current Columbus Blue Jackets….
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Greg Tysowski is a former TV station reporter who has chosen the exciting life of a stay-at-home dad for over a decade. He is now a published author, parenting blogger and aspiring sports writer covering the Calgary Flames for The Hockey Writers. Greg is also a regular contributor to the weekly roundtable discussion “Facing the Fire”, currently streaming on YouTube and all podcast stores.
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