After last night’s 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the Calgary Flames are now mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Here are the takeaways.
It was a sad night but it was expected. Somewhat of a “disappointed, but not surprised” kind of mentality. After last night’s shutout loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the Calgary Flames are now officially mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. They also mathematically hurt my heart.
To be fair, they were basically out about two weeks ago. But now it’s official.
Last night’s loss was the first time the Flames didn’t outshoot their opponents in 11 games. It was also their sixth straight loss and their third time being shutout in three games. Let’s check out the takeaways from the game.
Calgary Flames
Lack of offence
Like I mentioned, this is the third time in five games the Calgary Flames have been shutout. They only managed three high-danger chances at 5on5 last night. Three. T H R E E. While the Kings also only managed four, they had much more on their powerplay, where they scored all three of their goals.
They also only had 19 scoring chances at 5on5 which is the first time they managed under 20 in about a month. They’ve scored one goal in their last three games and just three in their last five. Not exactly an effective way to win games, but they’re also missing some of their top players, which brings us to our next point.
Feeling the effects without the top guns
As we know, Sean Monahan has been shut down for the remainder of the season and Matthew Tkachuk is day-to-day. These are the two leading goal scorers for the team, and to add insult to injury, Johnny Gaudreau had to rush home due to a family emergency, so they’re now without their leading scorer as well.
In their last five games, Sean Monahan is the only forward with a goal which came in the 5-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes. And it’s quite unfortunate that none of the other guys have been able to step up and contribute in their absence.
Special teams
Lately, the Calgary Flames penalty-kill has been quite good. They had allowed just one PPG against on 24 opportunities in their last 11 games and just two on 31 opportunities in their last 12 games. But last night, every goal came on the penalty-kill. The Kings went 3/5 on their PP.
The Flames also, yet again, couldn’t score on the PP. They were 0/3 on the PP and are feeling the effects without Matthew Tkachuk to deflect in the pucks and provide a screen in front of the goalie. Their special teams last night are what cost them the game. They’re just 1/25 in their last 10 games with the man-advantage and their last PPG came 10 games ago.
Some serious coaching changes need to happen this off-season.
Next: Flames officially eliminated in loss to Kings
I guess with no stress of trying to make the playoffs, the injured players can rest. I’m going to keep telling myself that to feel better.