'Too little, too late': Calgary Flames deliver a dud in a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken
Calgary remains seven back of a playoff spot with 21 games remaining but their hopes sure appear a pipe dream
Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports - 'Too little, too late': Calgary Flames deliver a dud in a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken“Slow start and too little, too late.” Ryan Huska summed up his team’s performance in Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken succinctly.
With their playoff hopes on life support even with one quarter of the season remaining, the Flames were guilty of a horrible first period in which they were outshot 11-2 and outscored 1-0. Instead of building on their season-best five-game winning streak, and a thrilling comeback victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, the Flames spent the rest of the night chasing the Kraken to no avail.
“We just kinda weren’t ready to play today, for whatever reason,” forward Andrew Mangiapane said. “Our first (period) wasn’t our best and then we were chasing the game the whole way, trying to claw back into it. It’s a tough one.”
The Flames are now seven points back of the Nashville Predators for the Western Conference’s final playoff position. Curiously, the Kraken are in the same spot. For the good news, the Andrei Kuzmenko scored twice in the loss, and goaltender Jacob Markstom gave his team a chance.
But that terrible opening frame, glaring miscues, foolish penalties — notably the major for checking from behind taken by Martin Pospisil with just over six minutes remaining in regulation — and dreadful defensive zone coverage was too much to overcome.
Now, with one game remaining before Friday’s trade deadline that most likely will see defenceman Noah Hanifin and maybe even more players depart, the Flames must recover from the sting of a loss that felt crushing.
“I feel like it’s been that way for a long time because of the start that we had,” Huska said. “At the end of the day, we put ourselves in this position where all of our games are important games and they have been for a long time. We have to get right back on track in Tampa and make sure we’re ready to go.”
The Flames kick off a three-game road trip Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, with the trade deadline Friday, followed by afternoon games Saturday at the Florida Panthers and Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Who doesn't return with the club from the trip is definitely the big story. Hanifin likely played his last home game for the Flames, while goaltender Jacob Markstrom is definitely a hotly chased commodity.
