Takeaways from the Flames' 5-4 shootout loss to the New York Islanders: Extra-time affairs continue to be Calgary's kryptonite

Three games that have gone to extra time this season. Three losses for the Calgary Flames.

One of the biggest reasons the Flames were not a playoff team last season was their lack of success beyond extra time. With their 5-4 shootout loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday, that ugly trended continued.

So, how does a team prevent that lack of success from snowballing to another disappointing end result?

“Win in regulation,” Blake Coleman deadpanned. “It’s something we’re aware of and we continue to put in work on it. … It kept us out of a playoff spot last year, and we’ve got to correct it so it doesn’t do it this year.”

The Islanders went into the clash also winless in extra-time games — 0-5 — but the Flames were the ones who remained holding a goose egg when the dust settled. Yegor Sharangovich scored the only goal for Calgary in the shootout that went four rounds deep, while Jonathan Huberdeau, Rasmus Andersson and Connor Zary all failed to convert.

“Sharangovich has a skillset, he’s a shootout-type player,” coach Ryan Huska said. “We don’t have a ton of guys that have his skillset. We have working skill, if you want to call it. You have to find a way to capitalize before you get into a shootout.”

The Flames (6-8-3) are on a 4-1-2 run, and deserve credit for erasing a 3-1 deficit and then forcing overtime after falling behind 4-3, even against a New York team that went into the game having lost its last seven.

However, until they either start winning in overtimes and shootouts, or piling up regulation-time victories, a playoff push will be a pipe dream.

Here are three more thoughts from the game.

Coleman continues to push the offence

Lending credence to Huska’s point about the lack of top-end skill, consider this statistic: Blake Coleman leads the Flames with five goals, while defenceman MacKenzie Weegar is tied with Andrew Mangiapane right behind with four.

Coleman, one of the club’s most consistent players, is on pace to reach the 20-goal mark for the first time since doing it in consecutive campaigns with the New Jersey Devils in 2018-19 and 2019-20, his second and third year in the league.

Coleman, who didn’t even realize he was leading the squad in lamps lit, said: “I think it speaks to our team. We’re getting contributions throughout the lineup right now. We’re not a team that’s gonna blow you away with 100 points. We’re a team that’s gonna need guys to chip in.”

Kids continue to shine

Before the season, the rookies expected to make an impact for the Flames were Jakob Pelletier and Matt Coronato. While the former remains on the shelf due to shoulder surgery for the injury suffered in the pre-season and Coronato continues to work his way back from the minors — four goals and eight points in seven AHL games is a solid showing — Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil continue to hold those coveted NHL roster spots and produce.

Zary collected a pair of assists against the Islanders, which gives him three goals and eight points in his first eight NHL games, while Pospisil scored once and now has three goals and five points in seven big-league games.

If that’s not enough, Pospisil, who has a plus-7 rating, was on the ice during overtime and even came within a whisker of winning the game but couldn’t covert on a breakaway.

“It hurts. It could have been over. I hope next time I will score,” he said. “I had great trust from the coach.”

Power play crushed Calgary’s chances

Going into the clash, the Islanders could have been the perfect tonic for Calgary’s flagging power play. At puck drop, the Flames were 0-for-13 with the man-advantage in their previous five games and 4-for-41 in their last 13 outings. The Islanders arrived having surrendered 12 goals in their last 24 short-handed situations.

Instead of taking advantage, the Flames twice took penalties while on the power play and failed to convert their three opportunities.

“It’s slow right now, so they have to speed things up,” Huska said. “At the end of the day, speed it up, move the puck quick, shoot the puck. Right now we’re slow and methodical.”