Coyotes pounce on Flames
Calgary blanked 5-0 by lowly Coyotes after NHPLA-mandated bye week
They were supposed to be rested, they said.
They were supposed to be refreshed, they said.
But after Monday’s belly flop — a 5-0 loss to the visiting Arizona Coyotes — it looked like the Calgary Flames had been off for five weeks, not five days for the National Hockey League Players’ Association-mandated break.
The conspiracy continues as the record for the first 12 NHL teams to return after their bye week is a combined 3-8-1.
Jockeying for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference standings, the Flames (28-26-3) remain idle in ninth with the Vancouver Canucks (25-25-6) three points behind them. Calgary is one point behind the Los Angeles Kings (28-23-4) for the final wild card.
“We’re either really good or really bad, there’s no middle right now,” said Flames netminder Chad Johnson, who was relieved by Brian Elliott after allowing four goals on 23 shots. Pretty much. Consider the facts. Although they’ve been playing half-decent (riding a 5-2-1 record heading into Monday), the Coyotes have struggled for much of this season.
The Flames’ promising stretch of play between the all-star break and their recent hiatus saw them go 3-1-0, including victories over the Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild.
Their solid practice Sunday evening and the fact Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan boasted every member of his club had returned from the break early on Saturday.
All of this should have added up to a victory. It didn’t. “Honestly, we’re all NHL players here,” said Flames captain Mark Giordano of all of the mounting chances for excuses. “We’re elite athletes. We’ve gotta take care of ourselves and be responsible. We came in, had a great practice (Sunday) and (Monday) … we had almost 20 shots in the first period and we changed our game.”
As expected, the details aren’t pretty. Heck, the first shift of the night said it all when Johnson casually went behind the net to play the puck, fumbled and allowed Jamie McGinn to take a shot on net.
Martin Hanzal, one of this year’s trade-bait topics, opened the scoring with 6:45 elapsed in the first period. In fact, he started the whole play with his faceoff win against Matt Stajan. The puck squirted out to Max Domi, who whacked it to Radim Vrbata. With Hanzal as his screen, Vrbata shot on net. Boom, 1-0.
Late in the first period, Sean Monahan looked like he was going to score his 100th career goal, but Coyotes goalie Mike Smith made two solid pad saves, then a glove stop on the pivot. Despite being down 1-0, the Flames were ahead 19-9 on the shot clock
In the second frame, the Coyotes scored three unanswered goals thanks to Christian Dvorak, Jordan Martinook and Ryan White, which elicited boos from the crowd. Rightfully so.
“We just don’t seem to get that … even though we’re down a goal or two, we change our game. We’re turning over pucks and playing into their hands,” Giordano said. “That’s as bad as it gets in the second and third. Guys were trying to do too much and giving them oddman rushes and chances. “It’s unacceptable.” Speaking of unacceptable … In the second period, Gulutzan demoted Johnny Gaudreau to the fourth line with Matt Stajan and Garnet Hathaway while promoting Micheal Ferland on the left side with Monahan and Troy Brouwer. Gaudreau had committed a turnover at the Flames’ blue-line that led to Dvorak’s first goal of the night.
Meanwhile, No. 13 escaped to get a change.
“He turned over the puck,” said Gulutzan of Gaudreau’s demotion. End of discussion.
Meanwhile, Dennis Wideman (who blew a tire and allowed Martinook to stream in and score on Johnson) was plunked on the third pairing with rookie Brett Kulak as Deryk Engelland moved onto the right side with TJ Brodie. That didn’t help either. Elliott started the third period, ending Johnson’s night after the Calgarian allowed four goals on 23 shots. But it didn’t go much better for him either as Dvorak scored again at 2:12 of the third period to go up 5-0.
The Flames, who’d captured the past four meetings with the Coyotes, sputtered to begin their final push through the final 26 games. Arizona, by the way, is the second-worst team in the Western Conference.
Call it a trap game. Blame the NHLPA-mandated break.
But this one, unfortunately, was exactly the opposite of how they wanted to come out of the gates.
“You look at this game and this is one you should win. You should win these games,” Johnson said.
“There’s no other way around it. Arizona has showed the last little bit that they’re not quitting. They’ve got lots to play for … it’s just not good enough.
“I don’t know what else to say. You can make excuses, ‘Oh, it was the break.’ But it is what it is.”
You look at this game and this is one you should win. You should win these games. There’s no other way around it. FLAMES GOALIE CHAD JOHNSON