Calgary's expected difference makers were the worst offenders in a 6-2 beatdown in Motown
The Calgary Flames witnessed the opposite of the famous hockey cliche: “Your best players have to be your best players.”
Unquestionably, the Flames as a team put in a disappointing performance in Sunday’s 6-2 drubbing at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings to end their five-game road swing. However, Calgary’s best players, at least their two highest paid, were among the worst offenders in the loss that ends a trip in which the Flames posted a 1-3-1 record.
Jonathan Huberdeau (whose contract worth $10.5 million per season kicked in this campaign), Nazem Kadri (with the second highest average salary at $7 million) and with Dillon Dube were each a miserable minus-4 against the Red Wings.
That’s bad enough. Most indicting was that line’s shift during Detroit’s back-breaking goal. In the second half of the second period, just over one minute after Andrew Mangiapane’s goal made it 3-1, the Kadri line was caught up ice as Detroit rushed up ice. Huberdeau was supposedly tracking Alex DeBrincat back to his zone, but stopped skating — instead, just glided — from the center line and had a fantastic view of DeBrincat’s one-timer of the cross-ice pass for the second of his three goals in the game that made it a 4-1 score.
It was an inexcusable bit of defending, the kind that looks like a video game controller had been pulled from the console.
Plenty of blame can be spread everywhere for finishing a road trip with such a stinker, but this squad is filled with players who said they were a playoff team if the black cloud of Darryl Sutter was no longer in the picture. The excuses are gone, and it is time for the Flames to carry their end of the bargain.
The Flames (2-3-1) will look to pull out of the nosedive with a pair of home games, starting with Tuesday’s clash against the New York Rangers.
“Six games in and there's a lot of hockey left to be played, but we've got to pick it up," captain Mikael Backlund told the media in Detroit. "We don't want to fall behind here. We want to stay within the race and you can't take anything for granted early on even though it's a long season, because it might hurt you in the end. We've got to pick it up here. We did some good things on this trip, but we need a really good homestand before the outdoor game.”
Here are other takeaways from the loss in Motown:
1. Calgary’s speed, or lack of it, has been noticeably already this season, but the Detroit game was the most obvious example of one of this team’s biggest drawbacks. Being outworked as the Flames were by the Red Wings is akin to turning the volume to 11, but the Flames simply had no answer to the Red Wings’ pace from the drop of the puck and not a lot of options to add more zing.
"We were slow everywhere," defenseman Chris Tanev said. "Forecheck, breaking pucks out, neutral zone. We're not going to win if we play like we did today.”
2. Yegor Sharangovich is not expected to fully replace Tyler Toffoli’s offensive contributions, but has the ability to alleviate some of the lost goals. That was on display with his second-period tally, a bullet of a shot, to net his first of the season. Sharangovich will develop into a middle-six forward, and it’s a good bet the confidence boost from that goal will make a difference. It will not be a shock if the Flames rework the lines again for the next game and Sharangovich is moved up to provide some zip to Calgary's struggling top players.
3. Rasmus Andersson served the first game of his four-game suspension, which he is appealing. Likely the best he likely can hope for is it will be reduced by one game, and that would mean be able to skate in Sunday’s Heritage Classic outdoor game in Edmonton, and save about $23,000.