Flames fall victim to penalty kill woes
As part of the Red Rally fan fest, Calgary Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan will be mic’d up for Saturday’s public-welcome practice at the Saddledome.
Since it’s being billed as a familyfriendly event, it might be best to mute the sound when the bench boss addresses the penalty kill. It’s been ( bleep).
The Flames surrendered two power play tallies — yeah, again — in Friday’s 2-1 home loss to the Dallas Stars, the third straight outing that the penalty-killers have fished a pair of pucks out of their own net.
“It’s tough when you get in these ruts, when it feels like they’re all going in,” said Flames captain and penalty-kill regular Mark Giordano.
They’re not all going in, but it’s not far off. The Flames have survived just three of their past nine short-handed situations.
They allowed a pair of power play goals in Nashville, two more in St. Louis and stayed consistent Friday as they dropped below the .500 mark with a 5-6-0 record.
The Stars finished 2-for-3 with the man advantage, with Esa Lindell and Alex Radulov both cashing in. The Flames, meanwhile, didn’t have anything to show for two power play opportunities of their own.
With their season-long penaltykill percentage now dipping to 79.5 per cent, Gulutzan told reporters after the loss to the Stars that it might be time for a back-to-basics approach in video sessions and also hinted at personnel changes, saying “some guys aren’t getting it done.”
“We’re a little passive, and that’s what happens when you get scored on, too — you get unsure of yourself. We have to find that mojo back here to kill penalties,” Gulutzan said.
“My experience with these things is that they get mental. You get into patches where you can’t keep the puck out of your net, like we are right now. And then, if your fundamentals and principles are intact and you keep going over them, eventually it swings the other way. But I find when your penalty kill isn’t going, they come in bunches against the PK, and that’s what’s happening.”
Johnny Gaudreau provided the Flames’ lone strike, adding his third goal of the season to his team-high 10 helpers.
With a sloppy, scrambly contest still scoreless at the midway mark of the second stanza, Gaudreau called his own number as the puck-carrier on a three-on-one rush, pondering a pass and then sizzling a wrist-shot under the cross- bar on Kari Lehtonen’s glove side.
The Stars equalized before the intermission, capitalizing after an unpopular penalty call against Flames defenceman Travis Hamonic.
It turned out to be costly, with Lindell sneaking a low blast through traffic from the point.
Radulov scored the winner with 7:10 remaining in regulation and Flames centre Matt Stajan serving a sentence for slashing.
“That last one, I thought there were a lot of little battles that they came out with,” Giordano said.
It just seemed like we had a few opportunities, there were some 50-50 pucks. I mean, they have the power play so they’re going to outnumber you, but I think we can be stronger and come up with more pucks there.”
The Flames return to game action Sunday, when they welcome star sharpshooter Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals (7 p.m., Sportsnet 360/Sportsnet 960 The Fan).