Calgary Flames drop fourth straight game vs. Arizona Coyotes

The Calgary Flames have dropped their fourth straight game against the Arizona Coyotes as their scoring woes continue as well.

Maybe this was the Calgary Flames‘ plan. Purposely lose to the Arizona Coyotes so that they inch closer to that second wildcard spot and potentially play them in the first round of the playoffs. Otherwise, the Flames have now dropped their fourth straight game.

They were shutout 2-0 as they dropped the first game against the Coyotes this season, going 3-1-0 in the series. A big reason for this loss was Darcy Kuemper who stopped all 30 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season. Mike Smith on the other end wasn’t too bad either, stopping 23 of 25 shots.

The Flames’ scoring woes continue, as they’ve been outshot 15-4 in those four losses and have scored two goals or less in their last five games. Let’s check out how they got here tonight.

First period

The Calgary Flames had an early chance and from a sharp angle, Mikael Backlund had a good shot but it hit the post. A couple of minutes later, the Flames went on the powerplay and had zone time for just about the entirety of it. They had some good looks but couldn’t capitalize.

Shortly after, the Coyotes had their first chance of the game as they tried wacking away at the puck but Mike Smith stopped both shots.

A little past the midway mark, the Coyotes went down on a two-on-one breakaway. From Christian Dvorak over to Clayton Keller, they had the first goal of the game. After that goal, it seemed like the Coyotes picked up their play and got a jump of energy to finish the period out strong.

The Coyotes outshot the Flames 15-10 that period and the Yotes had a slight advantage at 5v5 in terms of scoring chances.

Second period

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The second period was, for lack of better words, quite boring. There wasn’t much action besides the Coyotes getting a powerplay about midway through which was successfully killed off. There was quite a bit of end-to-end action and it was somewhat of an even period.

The Coyotes started the period out strong before the Calgary Flames answered back. In the final couple of minutes, the Coyotes started to get a bit more energy, but this period went scoreless and the Yotes continued to lead 1-0.

The Flames outshot the Yotes 8-5 that period but overall it was quite even in terms of attempts and scoring chances at 5v5.

Third period

Early in the third period after the Coyotes successfully killed off a penalty, they had a good chance in the O-zone. As Smith lost his stick and couldn’t quite get in good position, the Coyotes made it 2-0.

After that goal, the Calgary Flames really started to push back and had the majority of the chances and attempts. While the Yotes had a few chances, it was mainly the Flames keeping possession. They took out Smith for the extra attacker with about four minutes left in the game and while they pushed hard, it wasn’t enough and they couldn’t quite figure Kuemper out, so this one finished 2-0.

The Flames have now lost their fourth straight game and have been outscored 15-4 in those games. They need to get out of this funk they’re in because they’re extremely close to losing that first place spot in the West.