Calgary Flames lose seventh in a row to Columbus Blue Jackets

The Calgary Flames have now lost seven straight games. They were almost shutout for the second consecutive game as well but they spoiled the party for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Well, that’s now eight straight wins for the Columbus Blue Jackets in Calgary. And that’s now seven straight losses for the Calgary Flames. They fell short and lost 5-1 to the Blue Jackets tonight. They were also almost shutout for the second consecutive game, but they spoiled that party for the Jackets with just 21.4 seconds left in the game. Sorry, Bobrovsky.

Jon Gillies got the nod tonight and he allowed five goals on 28 shots. Sergei Bobrovsky let in just one goal on 38 shots. Wow, the Flames losing a game where they outplayed the other team? That has never happened before.

Pierre Luc-Dubois also got his first career hat trick tonight at the age of 19 in his first NHL season. That must have felt great for the kid.

Let’s check out how both teams got here tonight.

First period

Calgary Flames

Two minutes into the game, the Columbus Blue Jackets won the faceoff and right away, the puck went to Markus Hannikainen who made it 1-0 early on. Oh boy. Hannikainen broke a 22-game pointless drought because of course, he did.

The first good scoring chance for the Calgary Flames came slightly past the midway mark. Dougie Hamilton had a sneakily good slapshot and Sergei Bobrovsky had to be sharp. Shortly after, Thomas Vanek had a breakaway chance but missed the net.

A couple minutes after that, Pierre-Luc Dubois snuck the puck past Gillies on what didn’t seem like would be a good scoring opportunity and it’s now a 2-0 lead for the Blue Jackets.

Later in the period, the Flames were applying some good pressure until Michael Stone couldn’t hold it at the line and the Blue Jackets went back the other way, which Gillies had to be sharp for as well. In the dying minutes of the period, the Flames were applying some great pressure but couldn’t find the back of the net. This period ended 2-0 for the Blue Jackets with the Flames outshooting the Jackets 14-13 and having the edge in shot attempts and scoring chances.

Second period

Early in the second period, Nick Shore had a great chance with a good toe-drag, but Bobrovsky was sharp on him. Shore has yet to get his first goal in a Calgary Flames jersey. It also seems like Travis Hamonic wasn’t on the bench. He seemed to look in discomfort in the first period at one point when he went to the bench awkwardly, but nobody thought too much of it. The Flames later Tweeted that he would be out the remainder of the game. So now the Flames are working with five defencemen and missing their both of their regular second pairing players.

Shortly after, the Flames had a decent chance in the Jackets’ zone, but the Jackets went back the other way and Dubois got his second goal of the night. 3-0 Blue Jackets before the five-minute mark of the second period. So it’s going to be one of those games, huh?

Shortly after the five-minute mark, the Jackets went on the first powerplay. The Flames were quite aggressive on the PK and the Jackets couldn’t muster any shots or even had any scoring chances.

By the midway mark, the Flames were outshooting the Jackets 7-1. Sounds about right. They ended up outshooting the Jackets 13-5 this period and completely dominated this period at even-strength with 19 shot attempts compared to just five for the Jackets. They also had nine scoring chances compared to just three for the Jackets.

At least the Flames played this in typical Flames fashion, right? Let’s head to the third period.

Third period

Like the second period, the Calgary Flames definitely came out with some jump in the third, even though they started the period on the PK. They had a really great scoring chance a little past the five-minute, but they couldn’t score. Wow, I can’t believe I ACTUALLY thought the Flames were going to score here.

A little past the midway mark, Markus Nutivaara made it 4-0 for the Blue Jackets. I mean, it’s not like the Flames were in this game again, but now they really weren’t.

With a little over five minutes left in the game, Mark Giordano took a penalty. On the powerplay, with a nice feed from Sonny Milano, Dubois wristed it in. Cue the hats! It’s hard not to feel excited about the kid.

With less than 30 seconds left in the game, leave it up to the ultimate sniper, Chris Stewart, to spoil Bobrovsky’s shutout. That’s Stewart’s first goal as a Flame which also means that he will absolutely be getting signed to a multi-year contract.

Next: Flames Daily - Game day, Spencer Foo recalled

That’s all in this recap! Sorry to be so negative, it’s hard not to be.