Calgary Flames Youth Can’t Win Edmonton Shoot-Out
By Luke Ryan
With the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers locked a 1-1 at the end of overtime, it was the youthful trio of Gaudreau, Bennett and Monahan entrusted with penalty responsibilities.
Unfortunately, the youth came up short as the Oilers triumphed in the latest ‘Battle of Alberta’; no blight on them but rather on the Calgary Flames inability to put the game away earlier and strong play of Edmonton Oilers goaltender, Cam Talbot.
Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano said as much in an interview with Shane Jones of the Canadian Press.
“We sat back a little too much and didn’t shoot the puck enough tonight,” said the Calgary Flames captain. “We were guilty of overlooking and going for the perfect play. Their goalie made some good saves, but for the most part, we passed up on way too many chances.”
It was Sam Bennett netting a fifth goal in two games that got the Calgary Flames off to a strong start, a clean backhand shot after receiving the puck from Mikael Backlund.
However, from there on out it was either Cam Talbot denying them or the Calgary Flames trying to over-complicate things and walk the puck into the net as opposed to firing shots and seeking tip-ins in-front.
Obviously, it looks much nicer and will likely appear on plenty more highlight reels if the Calgary Flames can walk the puck in; however, if it fails they need to revert to a different plan. They didn’t seem able to do that against the Oilers, much to the chagrin of their fans.
Edmonton head coach Todd McLellan said of his team’s penalty kill. “We spent eight of the first 24 (minutes) penalty killing. It was huge.”
“We passed up on way too many chances.” – Mark Giordano (The Canadian Press)
This is exactly the sort of chance to capitalize that the Calgary Flames have to take; they weren’t able to net more than one despite plenty of time on the power play. As has been seen many times this year, it is often the special teams for the Calgary Flames that aren’t living up to the high expectations being placed upon the youthful team.
For a stalemate like this to end in a shootout was probably a fair result for both teams, with the Calgary Flames entrusting the youth and skill of Sam Bennett, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan to step up under pressure to defeat their Albertan neighbors.
They came up short though, ensuring a 2-1 loss for the Calgary Flames and giving Albertan bragging rights back to their Edmonton rivals. For now.
Next: Flames On The Up As Dougie Hamilton Hits Stride
What did you think of the Calgary Flames performance against Edmonton? Was it lacking that extra spark to ensure a victory? Let us know in the comments section below.