SMITH CAN’T SAVE FLAMES
Star goalie returns in loss to Isles
Mike Smith didn’t want to name names.
Didn’t have to. Minutes after his first start in a month, the goaltender lit a fire under his team with a frank assessment of what the Calgary Flames have been lacking of late.
“It’s right here, mental,” said the 35-year-old, pointing to his sweat-soaked melon.
“Everyone’s got to do it. Everyone knows what time of year it is and where we are in the standings, so I don’t think it really needs to be said too much.
“Every guy has got to play out of their comfort zone.
“Our top guys have got to do the little things it takes to win and block shots and chip pucks, and our bottom six guys have got to contribute offensively and do the little things also.
“We can’t have any passengers if we’re going to right the ship here and make a big push.”
When pressed on the suggestion there were those on the team not pulling their weight of late, Smith didn’t want to go too far.
“I’m not saying there are passengers or not. I’m saying guys have to do the little things to win games,” he reiterated. “Everyone knows what they need to bring.”
On Sunday night, the missing ingredient early on in his first start since Feb 11 was intensity, which helped the visiting Islanders cash in twice before the three-minute mark.
One was a screened point shot that found its way through a maze of traffic past Smith, and the other was a redirect off the stick of Troy Brouwer that beat the former Arizona Coyotes backstop 18 seconds later.
“You just look at our start compared to how we finished,” said Smith, whose club swarmed goalie Chris Gibson with 19 shots in each of the final two frames to force the Islanders’ rookie to save 50 shots in a 5-2 win.
“The desperation, the urgency just wasn’t there at the start and it got us behind the 8-ball, and it’s tough to come back in this league. We threw everything at ’em but it just wasn’t enough.” Not even close.
Indeed, the pressure applied by all four Flames lines late in the evening was as impressive as it was a frustrating reminder of how good this team can be, when it’s engaged.
All but two Flames recorded shots on goal.
However, for the third time in two weeks, the Flames made the opposing goalie the first star of the game. First it was the Dallas Stars’ Ben Bishop who closed the door on all 38 Flames shots in a 2-0 win on Feb. 27. New York Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped 50 in a 3-1 win on March 2 and now Gibson, the Finnish stopper with six previous NHL appearances is the latest to shine against the Flames.
The hero of the evening was supposed to be Smith, whose return from a lower body injury was supposed to boost a Flames club that had faded out of a playoff spot thanks to subpar goaltending. If only it were that simple.
Fact is, this team’s response to late-season pressure has been puzzlingly weak.
It’s interesting to hear Smith suggest the top six forwards need to be grittier, but not surprising to hear the grinders need to chip in more on the scoreboard.
It has been a problem all year. Aside from coughing up a juicy rebound that led to the Islanders’ fourth goal early in the second period, he couldn’t be blamed for the devastating, 5-2 loss that puts the Flames one loss closer to playoff elimination.
The Isles came in sinking like a stone, dressed a raw rookie in net and still managed to add yet another L to the Flames embarrassing record at home (14-16-4).
“Tonight we got to the traffic areas, we just couldn’t get it through,” said coach Glen Gulutzan.
“For whatever reason, the puck does not want to go in for us easy at home. We had 27 chances tonight. Compare that to 14 or 15 in Pittsburgh.”
So, apparently it truly is the long list little things making the big difference for a Flames team that likely can’t lose more than three of its last 12 games.
And that includes snapping a two-year, seven-game losing skid against the visiting Edmonton Oilers Tuesday.
They might have to do it without Matthew Tkachuk, who may very well be the Flame most capable of doing ALL the little things necessary to win games.
He left Sunday’s game in the final five minutes after falling backwards into the boards, smashing his cranium for what clearly required concussion protocol to end his night.
Things aren’t looking good for a Flames team far too talented to be in the position they’re in.
“You can’t win or lose a game in one shift,” said Smith, offering up insight to what he saw the team lacking while he rehabbed.
“I’ve been watching a lot of the games obviously from the press box and there’s times in games when it’s OK to try to make a fancy play and there’s other times you’ve just got to put it in and grind. And you’ve got to go to work.”
Something they better figure out before Tuesday when it could be too late.
We can’t have any passengers if we’re going to right the ship here and make a big push.