The Calgary Flames (28-22-8) traveled to Florida to play the red hot Tampa Bay Lightning, following one of their best games of the year on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the visitors didn't get a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 27 saves for a 3-0 shutout win, his first career shutout against Calgary.

The Flames are now 1-1-0 on a pivotal road trip. On Saturday afternoon, they will face the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers. However, before anyone gets ahead of themselves, let's discuss the loss to the Lightning. 

Flames Run Into a Brick Wall

Sometimes teams just run into a hot goalie who stops pucks efficiently. That happened Thursday night at Amalie Arena, as Vasilevskiy was unbeatable for his fourth shutout of the season.

Although the Flames outshot the Lightning, won more face-offs, and were the more physical team, they didn't have any answers for the home goalie who only got busier as the game progressed.

Ultimately, in a contest featuring two of the game's best goalies, the Flames couldn't score thus placing more pressure on Dustin Wolf to be perfect. He still made 20 saves with an even strength and power-play goal against. 

Fourth Line Still Buzzing

In the past two games, the Flames' fourth line of Ryan Lomberg, Kevin Rooney, and Martin Pospisil have been one of their strongest, with two goals and three assists. Despite not scoring against the Lightning, the trio kept things interesting again.

They were physical, with a combined nine hits, while Lomberg had two good scoring chances. Meanwhile, only Rooney played more than ten minutes (11:26), getting a few extra minutes than his linemates, but together, they were key in keeping Calgary in the game.

Can't Win Them All

The Flames exerted much energy to shut down the Washington Capitals two nights ago. Following that, they headed to Tampa Bay hoping to average an 8-3 loss in December. Even though that didn't happen, there is no reason Calgary should hang their heads. 

NHL Highlights | Flames vs. Lightning - February 27, 2025 Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside all 27 shots he faced, while Brandon Hagel scored his 29th goal of the season as part of his two-point performance as the Tam...

Wolf played tremendously and gave his team every chance to win. The Flames pressed several times throughout the game, had three power-plays to break the shutout, and were snakebitten. 

Of course, many will point to the Flames' season-long concern about scoring more, but against a future Hall of Famer netminder, this loss had nothing to do with scoring concerns. Vasilevskiy has given up just one goal or less on 16 occasions, so scoring against him every night is challenging, no matter who the opponent is.

The potential grueling road trip continues against Eastern Conference heavyweights, Florida and Carolina, so the Flames should focus on what's next and not dwell on an off-night against a hot goalie.  

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