This is a brutal way to skate into a two-week break.
The Calgary Flames slipped into vacation mode a little too soon Saturday, and their late letdown cost them a critical point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken at the Saddledome.
The Flames were up by a pair with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation but frittered away that lead and couldn’t kill off a penalty in the sudden-death session.
“We pissed that one away,” fumed Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar. “That one is a tough one to swallow before the break.
“I felt like, to even get one point there, it doesn’t matter. There was two points there for us to take and we didn’t get it.”
With the NHL pushing pause for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Flames are now idle until Feb. 23.
They hit their hiatus on a three-game losing skid and have slipped three points back of the Vancouver Canucks in the chase for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Worse, they have a full two weeks to stew over Saturday’s meltdown.
While Jonathan Huberdeau had a gorgeous assist earlier in the evening, he may have nightmares about his third-period turnover against the Kraken. Under pressure at his own blue-line, he was pickpocketed by Andre Burakovsky, who moments later scored the equalizer.
While Morgan Frost ripped a shot on a two-on-one rush for his second snipe with his new crew, he will toss and turn as he replays his holding penalty in overtime. He was still in the sin-bin when Matty Beniers fired through a screen for the game-winner.
Here are three takeaways from the Flames’ frustrating fumble in their final outing before their beach getaways …
1. THE CALL
The look on Frost’s face told the story.
The Flames’ prized trade acquisition couldn’t believe that he was whistled for a holding penalty in overtime, assessed a minor for what could be characterized as a gentle tug as he backchecked on Kraken defenceman Vince Dunn.
A lot of spectators at the Saddledome were, like Frost, stunned by this softie. Many will speculate it was a makeup call after Weegar had cross-checked Dunn earlier on that same shift.
“I don’t like to say anything bad about the refs ever, but I thought it was pretty weak,” Frost said afterward. “At the same time, I probably shouldn’t have chased him behind the net. I thought he was out there for a while and I was fresh so if he was going to step out, I’d be able to catch him. I thought I did a good job of that at first, and then it felt like he kind of slowed down. I guess it was a bit of a light wrap, but yeah, I disagree.
“No matter bad call or good call, I can’t take a penalty in overtime,” he added later. “That’s on me.”
Flames coach Ryan Huska agreed that if you’re blaming the men in stripes for Saturday’s loss, you are missing the point.
“I thought it was a soft call, but it’s on us for even being in that situation,” Huska said. “We shouldn’t have been in overtime tonight, that’s the way I look at it.”
2. THE COUGH-UP
Despite a couple of head fakes, Huberdeau couldn’t shake Burakovsky or Shane Wright as he tried to squirm away from the pressure.
After an oh-no type turnover that resulted in the tying goal, he might have trouble shaking this rotten feeling.
If Huberdeau had managed to send that puck to safety with less than five minutes to play, you could be reading a much different story. A story, perhaps, that gushed about his beautiful backhand pass to Nazem Kadri for what could have been the game-winning goal.
“It’s just unacceptable, especially a much-needed win,” Huberdeau said, owning his oopsie. “That’s on me. It sucks going into the break like this, but it’s hockey. It’s a mistake. But it’s a costly mistake.
“Just gotta get through it and come back and get some more wins.”
There’s always an extra sting when your highest-paid player and most skilled puck-handler costs you a game, but the Flames can’t afford for Huberdeau to dwell on this for too long.
With 21 goals and 20 assists, he is the leading point-getter for this scoring-starved squad.
For the Flames to snag a playoff invite, the 31-year-old left-winger will need to remain a major contributor over the final 27 outings.
“We’re still right there,” Huberdeau said. “We’re going to have a lot of time to think about (Saturday). But we just have to come back and play a little harder, some more push. I think the last stretch is going to be huge. Just put ourselves in a spot that the last five or 10 games, we’re in a spot that we can battle to the end to the playoffs.”
3. HOW ABOUT A HIGHLIGHT?
During Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast, you’re guaranteed to hear plenty of mentions of the ‘Tush Push.’
On Saturday, long before the sour ending, the Flames perfected their own version. It might have been the highlight of the night.
With the hosts killing off an early five-on-three, Weegar turned his left foot for a shot block, dead-ending that puck but also dislodging his skate-blade.
As he tumbled to the ice, Weegar managed to chop a backhand into the neutral zone. As the Kraken regrouped, Rasmus Andersson swooped in to lend an assist, furiously pushing his pal toward the bench as if he was at the top of a bobsled run.
Flames captain Mikael Backlund also provided a shove and then Weegar hopped the rest of the way on one foot, with defence call-up Ilya Solovyov waiting until he was close enough to jump the boards.
Weegar also received some bad news Saturday — or at least didn’t receive the good news that he had been hoping for.
While the Flames’ workhorse was among those on the short-list, it was made official that Team Canada has selected Drew Doughty as Alex Pietrangelo’s roster replacement for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Doughty has delivered some masterful performances in the Maple Leaf and owns a pair of Olympic gold medals as proof of that, but it’s too bad that Weegar won’t get an opportunity to skate on this stage.
The 31-year-old is riding a five-game point spree, with six assists over that stretch. He worked 25:24 against the Kraken and posted a plus-2 rating.
“We had an opportunity there to go into the break feeling great,” Weegar bristled after Saturday’s collapse. “This is the NHL. If there’s one thing that we could all learn, there’s not going to be a team to back down and just fold. That’s the one thing we can take away. But that’s tough. I’m kind of pissed off right now.”