Three takeaways as Flames lose to Blues on controversial overtime ...

16 days ago

Calgary Herald

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“I just felt I had to make one extra save than (Jordan) Binnington and I didn’t,” Vladar replied. “They got the win, but I thought that we deserved to win today. The guys played a really good game in front of me. We were playing good hockey, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

Flames - Figure 1 — Photo Calgary Herald

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Calgary Flames Connor Zary battles St. Louis Blues Oskar Sundqvist at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Thursday, December 5, 2024. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia

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‘It’s not rocket science, killing penalties’

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The Flames surrendered yet another power-play goal Thursday — a one-timer from Bolduc from the high slot.

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They’ve now allowed two-dozen man-advantage markers this season, and that’s through only 27 games.

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With a 71.1 per cent success rate, their shorthanded stats are among the worst in the league: They rank 30th.

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“I really liked our game five-on-five and power-play,” Huska said after his squad out-shot the Blues by a 39-24 margin. “I didn’t like our penalty kill. That’s the frustrating thing for me — there were a lot of good things in tonight’s game. We played it hard. I thought we played it well. I thought, as the game went on, we started to take over. A lot of time was spent in the offensive zone in the third period.

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“I don’t have a lot of complaints about those portions of our game, but we do most definitely need to get better on our penalty kill.”

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During his days as an assistant coach, Huska was tasked with overseeing the PK units at the Saddledome.

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As bench boss, he believes it’s not that difficult to identify the problem.

Flames - Figure 2 — Photo Calgary Herald

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“Penalty kill is short a guy, so you have to out-work the power-play,” he reasoned. “If you’re willing to do that, you’re going to kill penalties off.

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“It’s not rocket science, killing penalties. But our penalty kill does not match our five-on-five play and that to me is where the issue comes in.”

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It wouldn’t be the cure-all, but it would help if the Flames could win a few more faceoffs. They’re losing 61.1 per cent of their draws in shorthanded scenarios.

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Calgary Flames Jakob Pelletier scores on St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Thursday, December 5, 2024. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia

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Pelletier pots one

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You could tell, based on the double-barrelled fist-pump and the scream that followed, that Pelletier had been waiting a while for this moment.

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When the 23-year-old winger drained a rebound in Thursday’s opening period, it marked his first NHL goal since March. You probably remember — and he certainly won’t forget — that he’s passed through waivers since then.

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It also marked his first big-league bury on Saddledome ice. That’s a long time coming for the Flames’ first-round pick in 2019.

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Called up earlier this week after a productive fall with the AHL’s Wranglers, Pelletier is determined to prove he deserves a permanent job in ‘The Show’ and it will be tough to send him back to the minors if he can generate some offence despite logging fourth-line minutes. Just like Justin Kirkland was doing before he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Pelletier has been plugged in Kirkland’s old spot alongside Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Rooney for these past two games.

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This should-be sparkplug started to rebuild his confidence with 19 points — including 16 assists — in 20 appearances with the Wranglers this fall. On his scoring sequence, he helped pressure the Blues into a neutral-zone turnover and eventually beelined to the edge of blue paint, where he managed to find a puck in Scott Perunovich’s skates and chop that rebound past Binnington.

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“It felt good just to score a big goal,” Pelletier said afterward. “It was 2-0 so to kind of find a big goal again, it felt pretty good, to be honest.”

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