CALGARY – A good chunk of the Flames’ dads were at the Saddledome Wednesday night, assembling for the team’s California getaway with their sons.
Two periods in it sure looked like the car rides home were going to be awfully quiet.
After spotting an opportunistic Red Wings squad a 2-0 lead four minutes in, and a 4-0 lead after two, the Flames finally gave the dads something positive to talk about.
A Joel Farabee penalty shot conversion eight minutes into the third sparked goals from Matt Coronato and MacKenzie Weegar within six minutes, setting the table for the type of comeback the Flames authored so many times last season.
It’s what made the city fall in love with the undermanned squad.
Alas, despite steady pressure the final five minutes the Flames fell 4-3, and weren’t able to tie their record set in 1987 when they managed to erase a four-goal deficit in the third for a win.
Nazem Kadri said the feeling on the bench was that the crew would inevitably complete the long crawl back into the game. Somehow, it sure felt that way in the third period.
“Yeah, I truly don't think any deficit is really too big,” said Kadri, who set up Coronato’s blast before assisting on Weegar’s snipe.
“I think there's always hope, and I think we certainly play like it. We made it a game, but at the end of the day the result is what matters.”
In a season that has seen the Flames hover in and around last place, the comebacks that became the team’s hallmark last season have been few and far between.
Yet, much like how the team just went on a 7-2-1 run despite the fact the hockey world long ago wrote the Flames season off, Kadri insists his crew still has the belief it’s capable of defying the odds.
“You guys have heard about the character in this dressing room, and character isn't something that waivers from day-to-day, or from year-to-year,” said Kadri.
“It’s something you have or don't have. So, I never, never doubt that with this team.”
It would have been hard for anyone at the Dome Wednesday to believe early on there’d be much hope of extending their three-game winning streak.
Only those who stayed late saw hope flicker.
The Wings went up 1-0 one minute in when Alex DeBrincat one-timed a world class backhand pass from Patrick Kane off the rush. They added to the lead three minutes later when a breakdown in their own zone allowed Axel Sandin-Pellikka to one-time a DeBrincat beauty past Logan Cooley.
Neither goal was on Cooley, as the Wings managed to create a pair of Grade A chances they finished well against Kadri’s line.
The Flames first shot still hadn’t been registered, something fans would have to wait almost halfway through the period for.
Yet, as Flames players said afterward, they still felt good about their game, which speaks plenty about how far the team has come confidence-wise.
The Wings’ third goal came in the second when Adam Klapka got pick-pocketed in his own zone, leading to another quick strike by DeBrincat.
Dylan Larkin then walked in alone for the fourth goal after a Kevin Bahl pinch was not covered well enough by Connor Zary.
Still, the Flames insisted they were undeterred by the 4-0 score.
“We believed that we were going to come back, and we almost did it,” said Weegar, whose club outshot the visitors 37-26.
“We had a lot of shots, we had a lot of great attempts. The feelings were still good. We were still positive. It was just the four goals that happened so fast, and they're in the back of the net. It's too bad because I thought guys felt good in here, and we had legs, and we had jump, and you saw it a bit in third in that little bit of a comeback there. Ultimately, the deficit was too big to climb out of.”
Weegar insisted there are plenty of positive vibes as the team heads to L.A. and San Jose with the dads.
“We went 3 and 1 on a homestand here,” said Weegar.
“It would have been awesome if we could have maybe snuck out even a point there, or something in overtime. But there's definitely some positives to take away, and now we turn the page and we have some fun with the dads on the road here.”
