Calgary Flames Daily: Desperately needing Mike Smith back

After an overtime loss last night to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Calgary Flames are definitely missing Mike Smith right now.

The Calgary Flames are now on a four-game losing streak. At least they got a point last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. With that loss, it’s definitely clear who the MVP all season long has been.

Mike Smith has been injured for a couple weeks now and the Flames are feeling it without him. Last night, Jon Gillies let in two goals that were somewhat of weak goals and that he shouldn’t have let in. To be completely honest, I was somewhat surprised that Gillies got the start last night, to begin with. I thought David Rittich would have gotten the start against the Pens who have some of the best goal-scorers.

Rittich just seems more composed and relaxed in net and it seems like fans aren’t as worried when he’s in net than when Gillies is. Gillies also usually takes a little bit of a game to gain his confidence. When he does, he’s great. But at this point, I think I’d prefer Rittich.

Related Story: Flames lose in OT to Penguins in must-win game

The Flames let in two early goals last night but they came back and tied up the game.

Via Calgary Sun:

"“Obviously not the start that we wanted, and we could have just kind of folded,” Brouwer said. “But coming back and being able to get back into it after being down two and then after being down another goal, it was good resilience of this team, making sure we got a point. Obviously, we would have liked to have the second one.”"

The good news is that Mike Smith was seen in the team’s optional practice today. He wasn’t originally supposed to even join them on this road-trip, so he’s probably also realizing that the Flames desperately need him back.

A lot of fans are starting to lose hope that the Calgary Flames will even make the playoffs this season. Which is somewhat unfortunate seeing how this was supposed to be “their year”. They don’t even have a draft pick until the fourth round this year, so if they don’t make the playoffs, we can expect some major changes in the lineup.

Flames Tweet of the day

Hockey Tweet of the day

Some links surrounding the Flames

Flames Thoughts: Brouwer jumps to Calgary’s top line (Sportsnet).

Flames show resilience, but still lose in overtime to Penguins (Calgary Sun).

Pittsburgh, Buffalo then Ottawa: Flames’ postseason hopes hinge on this road trip (Ottawa Citizen).

Some links surrounding hockey and the NHL

Kyle Criscuolo out 4-6 weeks for snakebitten Sabres (FanSided).

Devils, Oilers to tangle in Sweden to open 2018-19 NHL season (CBC Sports).

NHL deputy commissioner reinforces importance of outdoor games (Sportsnet).

Next: Flames Roundtable - Post-trade deadline, playoff hopes

That’s all in today’s Flames Daily!