Max Domi and Oliver Ekman-Larsson both tallied twice and the Coyotes scored four unanswered goals in a 5-2 come-from-behind victory over the Flames at Gila River Arena in Arizona on Monday.
NOT OPPORTUNISTIC ENOUGH
The Flames outshot and outplayed the Coyotes in the first period on Monday. What they didn’t do was outscore them. As my broadcast partner Peter Loubardias likes to say, “What do you get done when you’re the better of the two teams?” Far too often for the Flames of late, the answer to that question is “Not enough.”
Already frustrated by their difficulty scoring goals and winning games, the Flames desperately needed something positive to happen in the first period, when they were clearly better than the Coyotes. The Flames had 16 shots and nine scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes, but failed to capitalize on any of them. While the Flames have nobody to blame but themselves for the position that they’re in, it feels like the hockey gods haven’t given them much help.
The Flames had a lot of puck luck in 2014-2015, when they shocked the hockey world by going to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Analytically, they are a much better team now than they were then, but between their difficulty finishing and a lack of puck luck, the Flames have been unable to turn all of their shots, attempts and chances into goals and wins.
CAREER YEAR FOR MONAHAN
Sean Monahan’s fifth NHL season has been his best. Despite being far from 100 per cent, Monahan scored his 31st goal and recorded his 64th point in Monday’s setback, equaling his career-high for goals and establishing a new career-high for points.
Monahan has been playing through a lower-body injury for weeks, and while he hasn’t been as impactful since late February, he’s still producing at a pretty impressive clip with six points in the last seven games.
One of the many things that has made this season so tough to swallow for the Flames and for their fans is the fact all three regulars on the team’s No. 1 line have had career years. Johnny Gaudreau is third in the NHL in assists with a career-high 59 and seventh in the Art Ross Trophy race with a career-high 82 points. While Micheal Ferland has been far less effective in the last third of the season than he was in the first two-thirds, he’s still set new career-highs in goals, assists and points with 21, 18 and 39, respectively.
Gaudreau and Monahan, who are already one of the most dynamic duos in the game, are young and are only going to get better.
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RASMUS RECALLED
With T.J. Brodie out with an upper-body injury sustained when he was steamrolled by Ryan Reaves in Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the Golden Knights, the Flames recalled Rasmus Andersson on Monday.
The 21-year-old second-year pro has had an outstanding season with the Stockton Heat. At the time of his call-up, Andersson was fourth in the AHL in assists by defencemen with 30 and sixth in the league in points by a blueliner with 38.
With their depth on defence at the NHL and AHL levels and fantastic prospects in Adam Fox in the NCAA and Juuso Valimaki in the WHL, I suspect general manager Brad Treliving will deal from a position of strength on defence to bolster his group of forwards before the start of next season. If Andersson gets some games while Brodie is recovering, it will give the Flames a chance to continue to evaluate a player that some believe is ready to be a full-time NHLer next season.
SLIM TO NONE
Going into Monday’s game, the Flames’ chances to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs were pretty slim. Four points out of the second wild card in the Western Conference with three teams between them and that spot, Glen Gulutzan’s group was likely going to have to win seven or eight of its final nine games and get some help on the out-of-town scoreboard. Unfortunately, the Flames couldn’t help themselves by beating the Coyotes. Mathematically, the Flames are still alive, six points out of third place in the Pacific Division and both wild-card spots in the Western Conference. Realistically, Monday’s loss was probably the final nail in their coffin this season.
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