Flames players try to stay positive after back-to-back losses, including 4-1 decision at the Saddledome on Sunday
Flames players try to stay positive after back-to-back losses, including 4-1 decision at the Saddledome on Sunday
It was a good news, bad news night for the Calgary Flames.
Bad news, the Flames allowed four goals against in a 4-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday at the Saddledome. The good news? Goaltender Dustin Wolf had a pretty solid night for the Flames, and allowed only two of those tallies. The other pair were empty netters by Tage Thompson and Connor Clifton in the final minute of the game.
Wolf finished with a .926 save percentage, stopping 25 of the 27 he faced.
The loss was technically bad news for the players. The good news? It put them in a top-10 draft position, which would mean a lottery shot at the first overall selection.
Some more good news was the play of the Jonathan Huberdeau, Yegor Sharangovich and Andrei Kuzmenko line, which had lots of energy and looked more dangerous than most in the second game in 24 hours after the Calgary Flames flew home from a loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
The positive spin coming from the Flames locker-room on Sunday? The scored looked much worse thanks to those markers made with Wolf on the bench for the extra attacker.
"It was a close game ’til the end,” Huberdeau, the Flames’ only goal-scorer on the night, told reporters after the game. “I think we’re getting chances; we just don’t really finish, and we don’t capitalize on it.”
Huberdeau’s goal was far from highlight-reel style. It was more of a shot/pass intended for Kuzmenko at the corner of the crease, but was knocked in by the Sabres defender.
The good news? It came on the powerplay — something the Flames have struggled with for most of the season.
Calgary product Peyton Krebs opened the scoring in the game’s first five minutes (bad news, a shot Wolf probably should have had). Huberdeau’s marker in the second period tied it and it stayed that way until J.J. Peterka took advantage of Thompson’s hard work on the boards and one-timed his perfect pass off the post and in from the top of the paint.
Wolf wasn’t stopping that one.
He blocked everything after that.
Although the Calgary Flames are even more unlikely to make the playoffs now, they still haven’t been mathematically eliminated. So they’re staying positive. Or at least trying.
“We have to,” Huberdeau said. “It doesn’t matter what position we’re in, we’ve got to play for the pride of the jersey, the organization and for us; try to enjoy these last games and play hard, play as a team like we’ve been doing all year.”