It was never going to last all season.
On Thursday, the high-flying Calgary Flames (5-1-1) came crashing down to earth a bit, falling 4-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes (4-2-0) for their first regulation loss.
There’s no shame in that, despite picking up points in their first six games this young season, the Flames were never going to finish the year without losing a single game, obviously, and the Hurricanes are one of the NHL’s elite teams.
If there’s a lesson to be taken from the game, it’s probably got something to do with not falling behind early. The Hurricanes took a 3-0 lead in the second period, and while the Flames have shown already this season that they can storm back, it’s not what you want to be doing every game.
“We were just a little flat for the first 25 or 30 minutes of the game and give a good team a few power-play opportunities and they cash in,” Flames winger Blake Coleman said. “I thought the response was good, we were never out of the game. We came back and made it a one-goal game with a chance to tie it late.
“We’ve played with fire a bit falling behind in some games and you’re not going to come back every time, so just take it as a lesson to start on time and go from there.”
They showed it on Thursday. The Hurricanes were sharper for most of the night and largely controlled the play, out-shooting the Flames 43-31 and winning 58% of faceoffs on the night.
That second stat was relevant to how the evening’s proceedings played out, with all three Hurricanes goals that weren’t scored into an empty-net – from Seth Jarvis, Jack Roslovic and Martin Necas – coming after they’d won faceoffs.
“They scored two goals off of faceoffs, so it was a big issue for our club tonight,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska.
After falling behind 3-0, the Flames did manage to make things interesting after Jake Bean scored late in the second, but despite creating the majority of chances in the third period and Jonathan Huberdeau cutting the ‘Canes lead to one with time still on the board for an equalizer, they couldn’t pull off their latest comeback and force overtime. Eric Robinson’s empty-netter sealed the deal.
Despite the loss, the Flames remain atop the Pacific Division thanks to their strong start. They haven’t won a game in regulation in their last three and Thursday might have been more lopsided had Dan Vladar not been excellent in net, but that’s picking nits a little.
They’ll face another big challenge on Saturday when they host the Winnipeg Jets.
ANOTHER STRONG SHOWING IN NET
If there’s one thing that’s been consistent through seven games for the Flames this year, it’s that they’re getting great goaltending.
If it feels like we’re saying that every game, it’s because both Dustin Wolf and Vladar are putting in solid showings every time they’re called upon.
On Thursday, it was Vladar’s turn and he was exceptional in turning away 39-of-42 shots and giving the Flames a chance to stay in it.
By the end of the game, he was cramping up and struggled to get to the bench when he was pulled in favour of an extra skater.
“The first 25 minutes it didn’t stop, so I was really tired,” Vladar said. “I skated a lot the last couple days so tomorrow when I talk to the goalie coach I’m going to let him know it was too much the last couple days because I was really tired and cramping at the end.”
The Flames seem content to rotate between Wolf and Vladar from game-to-game, and right now, who can blame them? It’s working.
FACEOFFS
We mentioned this earlier, but Huska had clearly identified faceoffs as being an issue on Thursday night.
The Flames lost 80% of their first-period faceoffs in the first period and 58% total. All three of the Hurricanes’ goals early in the game came after they’d cleanly won draws, and Huska wasn’t thrilled with the work that was done by his guys after the Hurricanes had gained possession, either.
“I think that’s an area where we have to get better in,” Huska said. “One, your centremen have to dig in harder, (two) if you’re losing faceoffs you expect your players to block shots and then three you have to make sure you’re much harder around your net-front so there are no second opportunities in the front.
“That, to me, is all work-related.”
Even heading into Thursday’s game, faceoffs were an area where the Flames needed to get better. Prior to the matchup with the Hurricanes, they had a faceoff winning percentage of 44.0%. That’s the 28th-best – or fifth-worst – rate
BEAN GETS OFF THE MARK
On the positive side of things, Bean picked up his first goal as a member of the Flames when he put one in the back of the net late in the second period.
Scoring against the team that drafted him No. 13 overall in the 2016 NHL Draft much have made it that much sweeter, too.
Through six games, Bean now has a goal and two assists and is a plus-2.
His goal was the latest from a Flames blueliner, and the productivity the team is getting from its defencemen is a big reason why they’ve managed to start as strong as they have. Rasmus Andersson’s shot led to Huberdeau’s third-period marker, too.
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