Sharks chase smith in 7-4 win
‘Definitely an off night and a tough one to swallow,’ says Flames’ MVP goaltender
For the bulk of his first 49 outings this season, Mike Smith has done wonders to mask the Flames problems.
On Friday night, he was the problem.
Well, a big part of it anyway. One game after pitching a brilliant shutout against the Edmonton Oilers, Smith allowed six goals on 20 San Jose shots, ending his night just one minute into the third period.
On three of his 14 saves he found himself fighting the puck tremendously as part of a nightmarish outing coming at the most inopportune of times.
“Terrible,” spat Smith when asked to assess the crippling 7-4 loss. “It was one of those nights where pucks were hitting things and going in. Couple of bad breaks there. Definitely an off night and a tough one to swallow.”
The team’s 35-year-old MVP had little else to say.
Unlike after the team’s last loss at home — Sunday against the New York Islanders — Smith wasn’t interested in expanding on his obvious frustration.
What more could really be said following the most devastating loss in a recent series of playofflimiting setbacks.
Predictably, the lads who did speak defended their netminder, who most certainly deserves some slack after the season he’s put forth.
“It wasn’t just one guy,” said captain Mark Giordano.
“You can’t just rely on your goalie to bail you out every time,” added Matt Stajan.
“He did that last game. Some of their goals were fluky — tips from far out, but we’ve got to do a better job defending. We’re giving guys second chances and turning pucks over in our end. This time of year those are the goals that are going to go in your net.”
The loss essentially puts the Sharks out of the Flames’ reach in the race for the final few playoff spots in the west as they now sit seven points up.
With 10 games left, the Flames can only afford to lose two more, which could come as early as Sunday in Vegas and Monday in Phoenix.
The damage started with a 30foot wrister from Evander Kane that dipped a foot under Smith’s glove after careening off Dougie Hamilton’s stick.
Awkward, weak and a potential back breaker.
Yet the team battled well. Smith’s night ended 41 minutes later when Kane banged in his fourth of the night — a rebound to make the score 6-3 in a game led midway through the evening by the Flames 3-2.
The goal that tied the game 3-3 was the biggest indication Smith was off. Rookie Kevin Labanc sent a wrister from beyond the faceoff dot over Smith’s shoulder, prompting a collective groan from Dome dwellers.
It was then the Flames missed a golden opportunity. They held a 5-on-3 man advantage for 44 seconds but the Sharks killed it off before scoring twice more in the second for a 5-3 lead.
The fourth goal saw Kane put in his own rebound before Tomas Hertl jammed in the fifth goal 90 seconds later to punctuate the second period.
Flames coach Glen Gulutzan contemplated pulling Smith during the intermission but after reviewing the goals felt he was “still feeling it.”
By no means was it all Smith’s fault.
Shoddy net-front coverage led to several goals, as well.
However, Smith knows he has to be better this time of year, or the Flames will roll over soon, exiting the playoff dogfight.
It was the Flames 10th loss in their last 13 home dates, dropping their disastrous Dome mark to 1517-4 — fourth-worst in the NHL.
The loss wasted a shocking twogoal effort from the Flames’ anemic bottom six, which included snipes from recent scratch Mark Jankowski and Troy Brouwer.
It also wasted the opportunity to take advantage of losses by Colorado and Dallas.
David Rittich made seven saves in mop up duty, preparing for an inevitable start in either Vegas or against Arizona.