When the Calgary Flames rolled out of their hotel beds on Monday morning and checked the standings, they found themselves somewhere that they’d rather not be — in ninth place in the Western Conference, on the wrong side of the cut-off for a playoff invite.
It’s fitting that this revelation would come on the road.
It’s their awful record in away games that is threatening to spoil their surprise start.
As they digest Sunday’s third-period meltdown in Dallas and turn their focus to Tuesday’s matchup with the Predators in Nashville, the Flames have lost eight straight in enemy rinks.
“We’ve just got to get our footing on the road,” Flames alternate captain Blake Coleman stressed prior to the 6-2 loss in Big D, where the Stars scored four unanswered in the final frame to turn a tight game into a runaway result. “It’s been a little Jekyll and Hyde with our game home and away.”
Indeed, it has been a tale of two teams.
Rollin’ in their red jerseys.
Woeful in white.
The Flames currently own a 3-7-4 record as the out-of-town guests. Of those three victories, only one was settled in regulation time — and that was back on Oct. 13 at Edmonton, eight weeks ago.
They are averaging just 2.21 snipes per night on the road and are allowing 3.71. That’s a gap of 1.5 goals per game, the second-worst differential in the NHL.
They’re killing only 68 per cent of their penalties in enemy territory.
They’re winning just 44.3 per cent of faceoffs during their travels.
Scroll the entire roster and you will find two active players — sophomore right-winger Matt Coronato and blue-line workhorse MacKenzie Weegar — with a positive plus/minus away from the Saddledome. (Justin Kirkland and Anthony Mantha would also be on that list, but both suffered season-ending knee injuries.)
There is, to say the least, plenty of room for improvement.
As Connor Zary groaned during Sunday’s post-game media scrum: “For us, we’ve gotta figure out how to win on the road.”
Finding a way to stuff some more points in their suitcases will, without a doubt, be a key for the Flames as they try to find their way back into the post-season picture.
Before slipping to ninth after Sunday’s loss to the Stars, just one point back of third in the Pacific and both wild-card slots, they had been sitting among the elite eight in the Western Conference since late October. A big reason for that is their 10-3-1 mark in front of the C of Red.
If you check the standings from 2023-24, each of the playoff squads posted a minimum of 18 victories in road rinks. The Flames need to win 15 of their final 27 away dates to hit that total — not that daunting of a task, but a drastic improvement from their current clip.
They will try to turn their fortunes Tuesday against a struggling squad in Nashville. The Predators have dropped seven in a row.
“We’re not in a bad spot, so we can’t get frustrated,” Jonathan Huberdeau told Flames TV in Dallas. “We have to stay positive and find a way to get a win. (Tuesday) is our last road game before Christmas, so I think that’s the one we need to focus on.”
Starting to click?
While there haven’t been a lot of positives for the Flames on recent roadies, this counts as an encouraging development.
At the tail-end of a blowout loss in Pittsburgh, Ryan Huska’s line blender mixed up this combo — Nazem Kadri at centre, Huberdeau on the left and Martin Pospisil on the right wing.
In 10 periods since, they’ve combined for three goals. That may not be first-star-of-the-week material, but it’s still a good sign for a team that is starved for five-on-five production.
It’s also a hint that there is finally some chemistry brewing between Huberdeau and Kadri, who are tied for the team lead with 17 points apiece. In previous tries, there has never seemed to be much magic between the two.
On their first shift against the Stars, Pospisil forced a turnover with a hard hit in the neutral zone and his pals were sprung on a two-on-one, with Kadri saucing a pass to Huberdeau for a one-timer.
“I think we’re creating some stuff,” Huberdeau told Postmedia before the Flames embarked on this two-game getaway. “Naz is a great player and Pospy is creating some room for us and he goes to the net, so that’s good.
“I think me and Naz, we can make some plays. We just need to be smart with it and do it at the right time.”
Ice chips
The AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, currently 9-3 on home ice, are back in action Tuesday when they welcome the Manitoba Moose to the Saddledome.