Flames fall to Avalanche in road-trip finale
Published Nov 25, 2023 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 2 minute read
Every team is going to have nights like the one the Calgary Flames had on Saturday.
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There are going to be games where you’re playing one of the NHL’s top teams, are on the second night of a back-to-back and while you play pretty well, just don’t quite have enough to earn a victory.
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And for the Flames (8-10-3), a 3-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche (14-6-0) isn’t really the end of the world. Not every game is going to serve as a referendum on the state of the franchise.
The Flames played a decent game, all things considered, particularly as they tried to make a push to get back in it in the third period.
But a rock-solid showing from Avalanche backup goaltender Ivan Prosvetov and a couple of soft goals on the other end of the ice proved to be too much for the Flames, who return to Calgary having completed their four game road trip with a 2-2 record.
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They say it’s a successful trip if you pick up as many points as the number of games you played, and the Flames managed that. Really, the only game where they played badly was Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators.
The result might not have been what they wanted, but Saturday’s matchup with the Avalanche certainly doesn’t qualify as a poor performance.
The Flames outshot the Avs 31-24. They came up with some Grade-A scoring chances, but just couldn’t find a way to put another one past Prosvetov after Jonathan Huberdeau picked up a pretty assist when he fed the puck to Mikael Backlund for a tap-in.
Dan Vladar likely won’t be happy with his showing in the Calgary net. There wasn’t much he could do on Jonathan Drouin’s pretty opener for the Avs, but he won’t be thrilled to have not gotten across his crease to stop Ryan Johansen’s wraparound goal after a Nikita Zadorov giveaway, and Nathan MacKinnon’s third for the Avalanche will be one Vladar wants back, for sure.
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There are other issues for the Flames, of course. Their sputtering power-play went 0-for-4 and managed only one shot.
But beyond that, the Flames lost to a good team. It happens.
The important thing is that with a few more contenders coming to the Saddledome in the next week, the Flames bounce back in a hurry.
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Wes Gilbertson and Danny Austin have been covering the Flames for years and know what makes the team tick. Have questions? They have the answers – or the contacts to track them down. Send your questions to [email protected]
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