The main concern from this game is the status and health of Kevin Bahl who took a wrist shot to the side of the head before a Canucks goal on Thursday night. A scheduled loss for the Flames, who were on a tough back-to-back to start the season.
They also decided to start Dustin Wolf in the back-to-back, and it did not go well. A couple of uncharacteristic goals got by Wolf, and on the other side Thatcher Demko looks to be back to his old self after battling injuries last season.
The start of the game was substantially better than their start in the season opener, but as expected the pace and the forecheck slowly faded as the game went on. Can't fault the Flames battle effort, as they kept pushing and eventually ended Demko's shutout bid late in the third period. The harsh travel schedule for this game became evident in the third as it seemed like fatigue took it's toll.
Kevin Bahl looked worse for wear after taking a shot off the side of his head, and did not return to the ice afterwards. Whether that's precautionary or not is yet to be determined, but he did not look good heading to the bench afterwards. His status for the home opener on Saturday is uncertain.
The impressive mark for the Flames is the penalty-kill, they have killed off the last six penalties they've taken while using the passive-aggressive diamond that was implemented in training camp. On the other side a bagel for the Flames power play, even with impressive puck movement, they were unable to find shooting lanes as the Canucks did a good job getting in front of shots and turning them back 200 feet the other way.
For the Flames to be more effective, they need to have more bodies in front of the net specifically on the power play, taking away the eyes of the goaltender, and setting up for the possible rebound. It was proven on the Flames goal as Joel Farabee was standing in the eyesight of Demko as Morgan Frost got his first of the season.
The decision to start Wolf in the back to back is certainly going to be a discussion, on one hand it is something he has done at both the WHL and AHL level, but hasn't been against the best players in the world until now.
It's a tough task for any goaltender and something the Flames haven't done since the days of Miikka Kiprusoff. I'll be curious to see if this trend continues on the rest of the back to back scenarios this season.