The Flames have not found an identity that even glimpses this team improved over the past two seasons. Sad really. Tonight, they lost, yet again, for the same reasons. Let’s review the three.
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Hamonic with his worst game yet. Overpayment on this D man it seems as this juncture. He’s inconsistent in his own end when he’s supposed to be an upgrade to Wideman. Horrid giveaway for the first ST Louis goal. He was doing the same thing last night. He was also briefly demoted (maybe it was injury?) to the third pairing.
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Discipline. Penalties again. Usual suspects. Let’s see if the coach follows through on his threat to bench players who take penalties. Flames lost the game and momentum, which they had early, because of offensive zone penalties. Dumb.
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Ferland. Sorry, he’s not a first line LW, is lost with the talent on that line, and handcuffs Gaudreau. Your best player needs to drag around Ferland 5v5. Not saying Ferland is a bad player, he’s just not a complement to Gaudreau, which is why that line is ineffective 5v5.
First outing for Eddie Lack. he looked fine. The flames in front of him did not. They played the reverse of last night. 20 minutes hard, 40 minutes off.
Penalties have been an issue and the most disconcerting and consistent factor; but Dennis Wideman is not even in the lineup to shoulder the blame. What is the matter then?
Can we blame the schedule…the fact that within twenty four hours, the Flames had to play back to back games on the road. Sure enough every team undergoes the process, but playing consecutive games at home is far more easier than playing on the road. For heaven’s sake can someone think straight about reconstructing the schedule?