Calgary's 3-2 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks has their playoff hopes nearly snuffed
Calgary's 3-2 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks has their playoff hopes nearly snuffed
It won’t officially be the death knell of their season, but the Calgary Flames’ 3-2 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday is perfect example of why they will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Flames outshot the Canucks by a 43-33 margin. They sputtered at the start, pushed like mad to close the gap — even erasing a 2-0 deficit in the third period — but falling short in the end.
Just like their late-season push for a playoff spot, close but no cigar.
Oh sure, the Flames still have a chance to reach the second season, but it’s about as remote as a research station in Antarctica.
Calgary is one point back of the Winnipeg Jets for the Western Conference’s wild-card spot. The Flames have two games remaining, home games Monday against the Nashville Predators and Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks.
The Jets are home to the Sharks on Monday and hit the road to face the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche. Because they already own the tiebreaker, the Jets simply need three points in their final three games to clinch a berth.
Also in the mix are the Predators, who have three games remaining and are three points back of the Jets.
As much the Flames deserve credit for gaining a single point with their ferocious comeback, it was not enough.
Those four words — it was not enough — sum up the Flames season.
Here are five more thoughts after the buzzer.
STUMBLING OUT OF THE BLOCKS: For the fifth consecutive game, and eighth time in 11 outings, the Flames surrendered the game’s first goal. It does not matter they are 3-1-1 in their last five, that is a recipe for failure. The facts become worse. Calgary has fallen behind by two or more goals in six of their last 11 games. When Darryl Sutter coached the San Jose Sharks, they were known for being a fantastic first-period team, a far cry from this team’s calling card.
ONE GOAL SHY … AGAIN: Calgary suffered its 29th one-goal loss, which doesn’t count the handful of games that were not one-goal affairs due to empty-net goals. The Flames are in the middle of the league in goal scoring, but have certainly lacked finding those clutch goals that make the difference. By the way, the 29 one-goal loss is third most in NHL history according to Sportsnet Stats.
HUBERD’OH: The Flames had best hope Jonathan Huberdeau is a much-improved player next season, but he must learn from Saturday’s performance. His penchant for attempting low-percentage passes led to Elias Pettersson’s short-handed goal that gave the Canucks a 2-0 lead. Huberdeau’s night was complete with an uncreative shootout attempt that had almost no chance of working.
LINDHOLM REWARDED: From the department of try and try and try and try and try again, Elias Lindholm had one of his best games of the season and was finally rewarded with a third-period goal that snapped a seven-game drought. Had Lindholm buried even half of his golden chances, the Flames would have won going away.
DONE IN BY DEMKO: Yes, it’s a bit of a “what-if” game, but it is a cruel twist of fate the Flames may have been done in by Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko. The decision to draft Mason McDonald in the 2014 draft when darn near everybody said Demko was the best goalie was a head-scratcher then and remains so. Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom was very good on Saturday, but Demko was better.