Flames' disconnected play sets painful tone for first year of rebuild

SEATTLE – It’s easy to take potshots, pointing out Igor Shesterkin’s offensive output matched that of the Calgary Flames until Morgan Frost scored late Sunday.

A goal and an assist for the Rangers goalie so far this season, three goals for the Flames. 

Fact is, no one should be surprised the Flames have just one goal in each of their three losses, as scoring was always destined to be the Flames' biggest issue this season.

They finished last in goals last season. 

Given the leading scorers erased since then, they’ll obviously finish last again this year.

But what’s glaring about the Flames’ 0-3 start this season is the number of goals surrendered.

Outscored an unfathomable 16-3 so far, Sunday’s 6-1 loss in Seattle underscored just how far away this team is from playing the type of cohesive, tight-checking defence that gives them their only chance to keep games close through this rebuild.     

Goaltending and defence were supposed to be the Flames’ strengths.   

And while there is an understanding amongst Calgary’s educated fan base that progress over the next handful of years isn’t measured in wins and losses, the fashion in which they lose still matters.

So far, the start has been unacceptable. 

By any standards.

Sitting minus-13 in goal differential three games in (against non-playoff teams to boot) sets a horrific tone on a season that’s shaping to be even more painful than Flames fans expected in Year 1 of their rebuild. 

“I don’t know if this is going to sound crazy, I don’t even think we played that bad tonight,” said the Flames’ lone goal-scorer, Morgan Frost, underscoring just how egregious the defensive breakdowns were in a game the Flames were behind 3-0 just seven minutes in.  

“I feel like when we’re making a mistake, we’re giving up a breakaway.  It’s frustrating right now. We’ve got to tighten it up.

 “We’ve obviously got to play better defensively, and I think if we’re gonna win games, that’s how we’re gonna win games.”

Winning must feel like a big IF right now.

In a room full of youngsters who desperately wanted to build confidence by getting off to a good start, their only hope was via low-scoring, close-checking affairs.

Disconnected is the word coach Ryan Huska used to describe how his team keeps finding itself in this position, as a handful of defensive miscues or missed assignments wound up behind Dustin Wolf.

Sure, their franchise goalie needed to be much, much sharper in each of his two outings.

But pinning this on him is not fair.

That said, he’s definitely part of the problem.

A column for another day.

Devoid of leading scorers Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman, MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson from last year’s popgun offence, this year’s forward group knows the pressure to produce for the first time in their careers is immense.

With that comes a tendency to cheat defensively to make a play, which has led to some of the miscues that seem to compound before every goal against.

“You’ve got some new people that are trying to find their way a little bit and they’re trying to do a little bit too much at times,” said Huska.

 “We’re dealing with some adversity right now.”

Are they ever.

“It feels like when one goes in against us we just end up giving up a couple,” said Joel Farabee, whose 500^th NHL game took a nasty turn just two minutes in when Berkly Catton sparked a three-goal burst in the first seven minutes.

“We haven’t given up much in our D-zone, it’s just the rush chances against where there’s maybe a bit of confusion with some new guys, and things like that.”      

Excruciating growing pains. 

We could go through all six goals, but the reality is almost every one of them came off the rush, and saw a defenceman burned by a missed read or misstep. 

They were certainly torched as a group, with the last line of defence failing to make enough big stops to limit an opportunistic Seattle squad that actually had one less high-danger chance than the Flames (14-13 according to Natural Stat Trick).

The Flames outshot Seattle too (33-27), which means nothing.  

The post-game flight home must have been deathly silent – not just because of their latest embarrassing result, but because of what many fear lies ahead Thursday when the league’s most dangerous offence – Colorado - visits.