FLAMES FAZED, CONFUSED BY HOME-ICE WOES
Losing record at Saddledome threatens to extinguish team’s shot at playoff spot
In the midst of their playoff pursuit, the Calgary Flames are also chasing some rather dubious NHL history.
Since the advent of the loser point in 2005, only 10 teams have made the playoffs with fewer wins than losses of any kind at home.
No team has made it with a worse win/loss differential at home than the 13-14-4 record the hosts dropped to at the Saddledome Monday afternoon.
Don’t be fooled by the loser point in the third column — the club’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins gives the Flames five more losses than wins at home.
Incredible, really, that they are still in the race, thanks to a 17-7-5 road record.
Like many of their losses
while wearing home reds, Monday’s setback was a close affair, decided in the end by a TJ Brodie giveaway in the offensive zone that gave Brad Marchand a 120-foot breakaway he buried past game star David Rittich.
It marked the seventh time in eight games Dome faithful left groaning over a loss (1-3-4).
The lone win in that stretch was an overtime winner against Chicago, making it more than six weeks since their last regulation victory at home.
No wonder ownership is pushing for a new rink.
With every such setback, Flames fans, players and management have to wonder if that’s the missed opportunity that could be the difference between a playoff spot and a long summer.
Understandably tired of being asked about the biggest impediment between them and postseason, coach Glen Gulutzan snapped back when asked about it following Monday’s game.
“No. I’m not going to get into talking about missed opportunities,” he said, clearly frustrated.
“I know where you’re going with this, but I don’t look at how we’re not going to make it, I look at how we are going to make it.”
Thanks to the loser points, the Flames are still in the thick of a heavily-congested race for a playoff spot they currently sit on the outside looking in.
With 22 games left (mercifully only 10 at home) the Flames are essentially a coin flip away from
being one of the great eight in the west.
What’s problematic with that scenario is it would require the lads to go into places like Vegas (twice), Dallas, Pittsburgh, San Jose, L.A. and Winnipeg and continue plucking two-thirds of all possible road points up for grabs. Not going to happen,
Alternatively, they could start doing what most playoff teams in pro sports do — win more than their fare share at home. When asked if the players fear — like most fans — that their home haplessness is an obstacle in the way of their playoff hopes, Brodie shrugged.
“Not really,” he said.
“It’s not like we’ve been playing bad at home. We’ve gotten chances. It’s just one of those things. A bounce here or there and we could be talking about the same record as the road.”
Um, that would’ve required more bounces than a Dennis Shapovalov practice session.
One thing Brodie did nail was his description of what the Flames are going through at home.
“It’s like any slump, sometimes the harder you try, the more you grip the stick, the worse it is,” said Brodie, the first to use the s-word publicly.
“It’s one of those things where there are games we’ve lost and we’ve played good games. Mentally, it’s hard when you lose a game you think you have to change something or do something different, but that’s not necessarily the case.”
Flames GM Brad Treliving said last week that for some reason the team’s shooting percentage has cratered at home this year, especially late in games.
Special teams have also let him down.
They need to start finishing games — that much is clear.
Of late, the Dome has played witness to a handful of epic collapses that threaten to derail the Flames from their season-long goal.
“Oh no, we don’t think about that,” insisted Matthew Tkachuk, who scored the lone Flames goal to continue his own personal hot streak.
“I thought we played good enough to win tonight but just
one of those games we didn’t get the end result.”
And so, the Flames went home Monday to pack their bags for Vegas, wondering, once again, if they may just have blown their spring dreams.
Or are they talented enough to make NHL history with the worst home record a playoff team has ever overcome?