The Calgary Flames faced the Vancouver Canucks on Friday evening. They completely outplayed the Canucks with a 46-13 edge in shots. But lost 4-2 (yikes).
Man, I was hoping 2017 was going to be nice to the Calgary Flames. But boy was I ever wrong. The Flames completely outplayed the Vancouver Canucks tonight but they just couldn’t beat the Ryan Miller tank that has been explosive as of late.
Even with a 46-13 edge in shots, the Flames still lost 4-2. Actually, the Flame scored on their first shot on net, then didn’t score again until their 45th shot on net. I had multiple friends who aren’t Flames fans text me a screenshot of the score just saying “what?” Like, I get it. I don’t need this.
We start with the first period where Michael Frolik scored 1:18 into the game. And who assisted? Well, it was none other than his friends on the 3M line, Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Canucks | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Flames | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Backlund is now on a six-game point streak with six goals and five assists in that time frame (he would end up assisting later on). Tkachuk is also on an eight-game point streak now, which is the highest by a Flames rookie since Joe Nieuwendyk in 1987-1988.
However, after that first goal, the Canucks came right back out and made the score 2-1 after 20 minutes of play. And then, spoiler alert, they would end up making it 4-1 before Frolik scored another goal late in the game. A little too late. At least it was a power-play goal, so hey, there’s that.
This loss wouldn’t have felt so bad if the Calgary Flames didn’t give it their all. But they really did. They played really hard and had an incredible number of chances. I mean, just look at the shots. How do you lost 4-2 when you have a 46-13 edge in shots? They just really couldn’t beat Ryan Miller, and let’s give credit where it’s due, has been absolutely incredible as of late.
He’s won five in a row and has a 0.934 sv% and 1.78 GAA and even had a shutout in his last game. The Canucks have now won six in a row and have moved up to a playoff spot. They’re just one point back of the Flames so this Calgary team needs to watch their back.
Actually, with the Toronto Maple Leafs also winning tonight, as of right now, six of seven Canadian teams are currently in a playoff position. Neat, hey?
Next: Flames Daily - Game Day, 3M Line Factor In Success
The Flames and Canucks will face off again tomorrow night in Calgary this time. Let’s just hope that the Flames can find the back of the net a little easier this time.