Ottawa Senators vs. Calgary Flames: My thoughts

In a game that should have been very winnable, the Calgary Flames dropped a heartbreaker to the Ottawa Senators, 4-1. Here are my thoughts on a tough loss.

Being a Calgary Flames fan (or a fan of any sports team) is like being in a bad relationship.

You care. You put in the time. You put in the emotion. You spend the money on tickets and merchandise. And in return, what do you get?

You get (metaphorically, of course) kicked in the side of the head with a performance like the one on Thursday when the Ottawa Senators came to town.

Here’s what I thought.

Giveaways, Giveaways, Giveaways

It wasn’t so much that the Calgary Flames played badly. Especially in the first period, I thought they controlled much of the play.  This irrespective of going down 1-0 very early on.

However that doesn’t mean they were particularly good either. Three of the Sens’ goals were direct results of unfocused play and subsequent giveaways by the Flames.

Unfortunately, the Calgary Flames are among the league leaders in the Giveways category.  As of this writing, the Flames are 8th in the league with 319 total Giveaways.  They are 9th in the league with 9.25 Giveaways/60 Minutes.  In case you were wondering, team leaders in those categories are Matthew Tkachuk, with 30 total Giveaways, and Nikita Zadorov’s 3.54 Giveaways/60.

On the bright side, as a team stat, Giveways is not necessarily a predictor of team success.  For example, no team has given the puck away more than the Florida Panthers, who sit in striking distance of first place in the Eastern Conference.  However, the Panthers also lead the league in total Takeaways.  Meaning they’re losing the puck a lot, but they’re getting back at a commensurate rate.

So, while not a predictor of success, Giveaways as a category does factor into failure.  The Calgary Flames would be wise to watch that aspect of the game.

LOOOOOOOOOOOCH!!!

In his post-game media availability, Head Coach Darryl Sutter was abundantly clear about the Calgary Flames’ lack of emotion on Thursday. The lone bright spot, he pointed out, was Milan Lucic.  Hard to disagree.

Looch was all over the ice.  He was brilliant on the forecheck.  With 2 Shots, only Noah Hanifin, Sean Monahan and Tkachuk (the Flames lone goal scorer) shot more.  He led the team with 4 Hits. And, when his team needed an emotional injection, Lucic fought Ottawa’s Scott Sabourin.  A fight decisively won by Lucic.

Say what you want about Lucic’s contract, which is a bit rich.  Games like this prove why the Flames need him.

Rust

Excuses don’t win games.  I get that.

But there is an inconsistency in the Calgary Flames schedule that is working against them.  Nineteen days off in COVID protocol, followed by 5 road games (at a regular NHL pace), then 5 days off before Thursday’s Ottawa game.  Now they have to wait another 4 days before their next game.

All teams are dealing with the same irregularity, it’s true.  But, in Flames case, they haven’t really had the chance to shed the rust from being out of games for so long.  Professional athletes, anecdotally, are creatures of habit and schedule.  They need to play games to stay sharp for future games.  Take that away, and performance is obviously affected.

So, like most in bad relationships, we wait for some love.  This time, four days.  Hopefully we don’t get ghosted again.