Playing A Full 60
It was no secret that the Flames dominated the third period in the 2014-2015 season. Nobody ever underestimated their ability to come back and win a game when they were down a couple of goals. This year hasn’t been the same, unfortunately.
It seems as though this team loses the energy in the third period. That was very evident in the first few games of the season. It wasn’t that they necessarily lost momentum in the third, but there was always a sort of “down” period, if you will. There was always a period where they didn’t give it their all, and that costed them. They need to find a way to play a full 60 minutes.
Fortunately, the Flames haven’t lost a game yet when they’ve been leading after two periods. And four of their five wins come from when they’ve lead after two periods. However, they also trailed going into the third period seven times this season. And six of those ended in losses.
The fact that they trail so often heading into the last period shows that they need to push harder early on. They can’t wait until third period hoping for a comeback. Having a strong first period will be key for this team because it’ll also boost their momentum and their morale for the rest of the game.
Conclusion: Play a full 60. Again, for my sanity. Please.
Next: The Last Time the Flames Won in Anaheim
The Flames need to find some way to boost their confidence. Even if they improve in one of these categories, everything else will start falling into place. They play the next two games at home so let’s hope being in front of the C of Red will give them what they need right now.