Calgary Flames Giveaway Game to Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning has struck twice as Tampa Bay defeated the Calgary Flames 5-2 sweeping the season series. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Errors in baseball are shown on the scoreboard.  Turnovers in football are shown on the stat sheet.  The 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay was a result of Calgary Flames giveaways.

The third period by our Calgary Flames was a display of almost every way to giveaway the puck to the opposing team.  Some examples:

  • drop passes to nobody
  • weak cross ice passes between the defenseman manning the top of the zone
  • ill-advised pinches for the puck
  • simply misplaying the puck

That list sums up most of what I watched in the third period as our Calgary Flames abandoned logic and went total desperation trying to catch the Lightning on the scoreboard.

Sadly all I was able to catch was the third period (I hate the eastern time zone starts) but FanSided’s Tampa Bay Lightning website filled me:

Going through the list of Calgary Flames fans and Calgary Flames media list found on Flame For Thought’s Twitter page, here’s what I learned:

  • Sven Baertschi played a solid first period.  In the 3rd period, I think I counted 4 shifts.  Something doesn’t add up!?!
  • Rafa Diaz played 5:33 after two periods.  He played 5:45 in the 3rd period alone.
  • Dennis Wideman and Kris Russell, who I watched struggle in the 3rd period, apparently struggled the entire game.

QUESTION:

What has Devin Setoguchi done to deserve being the Calgary Flame with the most powerplay ice-time?  I saw another lacklustre period from him in all three zones.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE:

The Flames do not play the Tampa Bay Lightning anymore this season.  A Saturday matinee game versus the Florida Panthers is just what the doctor ordered cause 1 of 2 things will happen.

  1. The Calgary Flames will defeat the Florida Panthers re-asserting themselves as a young upstart team.
  2. The Calgary Flames will lose to the Florida Panthers and I will have to type this all over again when the team goes to Carolina on Monday.