Dan Vladar couldn’t have done much more.
The Calgary Flames (28-23-8) were not very good against the Florida Panthers (37-21-3) on Saturday afternoon. They were outshot and outplayed, plain and simple, and it would be no exaggeration to say that Vladar was the only reason the 3-0 scoreline looked at all respectable.
“We obviously let him down, every period, just about,” Flames winger Ryan Lomberg told reporters in Florida. “He sat in there and gave us a chance and we hung him out to dry quite a bit. Disappointing from the group to do that to him, but incredible effort from him.”
If the 27-year-old hadn’t absolutely stood on his head, it would have been a lot worse at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.
Vladar is second on the depth chart for the Flames these days, with Dustin Wolf emerging as the rightful starter after the two goaltenders split time in net for the first couple months of the season.
But when people point to Vladar’s 8-11-5 record this season, it’s games like the one on Saturday that make it feel a little unfair.
Honestly, what more could he have done?
“We didn’t play very well today, but I thought Vladdy was unreal,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska told reporters. “If he wasn’t on the way he was, that game gets away even more so than what it did today. I felt like we were a slow team and didn’t look like we were prepared to play, so that’s obviously on how I handled it this afternoon.”
While the Panthers’ 42 shots on goal is too many from a Flames perspective, the total is actually deceiving. Up two goals heading into the third, the reigning Stanley Cup champions were clearly content to protect their lead for the final 20 minutes.
They had 35 shots in the first two periods and they weren’t just from the outside, either. There were breakaways, two-on-ones and shots from guys who were open in the slot and required Vladar to sprawl and make highlight-reel stops.
He deserved better support from his teammates.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s matinee:
- WHERE HAVE THE GOALS GONE?
The Flames have now gone more than 120 minutes without scoring a goal.
After getting shut out 3-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, it happened again on Saturday.
There were differences between the two games, though.
The Flames competed hard against the Lightning and had opportunities. That happens.
Against the Panthers, they weren’t playing at the speed they needed to and never really put Sergei Bobrovsky under real pressure.
“It’s not a great position to be in, but the only way to get out of it is play the way we can, play the right way,” Flames captain Mikael Backlund told reporters. “We’re not going to be able to cheat and go for offence to win games, we have to stick with our gameplan and trust our team game and get more bodies to the net and make it hard on goalies.”
- A SPECIAL MOMENT
Lomberg was honoured with a thank-you video in the first period, and nobody in Calgary will be surprised to learn that he was given a rousing standing ovation from the Florida faithful.
He was beloved by Panthers fans and won a Stanley Cup with the team last season, so it was inevitable that he’d be shown a lot of love on Saturday.
“It was nothing short of amazing, they made me feel very loved today and I appreciate that,” Lomberg told reporters post-game. “I don’t know if there were official tears, but they were on their way. I was definitely fighting it back a bit.”
Lomberg went out of his way to show his appreciation back, hopping on the ice and doing a little mid-ice skate by himself as he waved to the fans.
- THE HEAT IS ON
The Flames are now three games into a gruelling six-game road-trip and have managed to win one and lose two.
The opponents have been tough and dropping games to the Panthers and Lightning is not the end of the world, but life isn’t getting any easier.
They play another afternoon game on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes, who are no pushovers, and with the Vancouver Canucks playing a late game against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night it’s possible that the Flames will have fallen three points back of the second Western Conference wild-card spot by the time the puck drops.
That’s not insurmountable, but they need to get back on the winning track soon.
