Flames get back to ‘checking roots’ after lopsided loss to Lightning
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The Calgary Flames shuffled their lineup on Friday, a day after the team was outclassed 8-3 by the Tampa Bay Lightning for the franchise’s worst home loss in nearly five years.
Head coach Ryan Huska made several changes at Friday’s practice, including on the second defence pairing. MacKenzie Weegar was critical of his performance after the loss, telling reporters he "had to be better for his teammates." On Friday, he was with Joel Hanley instead of his usual partner, Daniil Miromanov, who was skating with Tyson Barrie on the fourth defence pairing.
Winger Jakob Pelletier was elevated from healthy scratch to the third line alongside Yegor Sharangovich and Connor Zary. Andrei Kuzmenko was the extra forward. The club also recalled goalie Devin Cooley on an emergency basis and is listing Dan Vladar as day-to-day.
The players insist they’ve already turned the page on the loss, but know there are valuable lessons to be learned.
“It’s a new day,” forward Blake Coleman said. “We gave some high-end players too much time and space…a lot of guys didn’t feel their best coming back from a road trip…things came a little bit harder for them yesterday.”
Huska said he wanted his team to feel some disappointment.
“I think you let it sting for a bit, then you move on,” Huska said on Friday. “Today was a day where we got back to the checking roots that we have on the ice, and I thought the guys did a good job with that today.”
The Flames were one of the league’s best defensive teams to start the season but have struggled to keep the puck out of their own net of late.
Since Nov. 25, the team’s five-on-five save percentage is the fourth-worst in the league, and they’re giving up a league-high 4.22 goals per game. Huska has said several times that the team simply doesn’t have a gamebreaker, so it needs to rely on sound defensive play to win.
“If one guy within our structure is off, there’s a breakdown,” Huska said. “Sometimes, it’s guys pushing a little bit more for offence or hoping the puck is going to come to them. Well, they’re going to be one second late for their checking responsibility and open some space on the ice. It’s a five-guy thing where we need the commitment from all when they’re on the ice.”
There could be longer-term effects of this current slump. The Flames have spent most of the season in a playoff spot, but have won just two of their past nine games and are now on the outside looking in.
“If we’re serious about making a push for the postseason hockey, then you’ve got to limit the amount of times you come out like that,” Coleman said. “There’s no time to sit on it…we’ve already turned the page.”
Calgary welcomes the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday. The Flames know that they could fall further out of the playoff race if they don’t take advantage of their five-game homestand.
“We know who’s coming to town,” Coleman said. “That’s kind of what we need. We need a good test. We need a team that we know we’re going to bring our best for.”
Flames lines at practice Friday
Huberdeau-Kadri-Pospisil
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Sharangovich-Zary-Pelletier
Lomberg-Rooney-Duehr
Kuzmenko
Bahl-Andersson
Hanley-Weegar
Bean-Pachal
Barrie-Miromanov
Cooley
Wolf