The end of their playoff hopes is nearing, but the Calgary Flames made a bold statement last outing and intend to repeat it when they play host to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
The Flames (34-34-5, 73 points) snapped a five-game losing skid with an impressive, complete effort in a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings in the first half of a two-game homestand. They intend to show a similar effort against the moribund Ducks, whom the Flames have beat in seven of their last eight meetings.
“That was one of our most complete games of the season,” rookie forward Connor Zary said after practice Monday. “We talked about how we played five-on-five, how we played in the neutral zone and turned that into offence. We’ve got to continue with that down this final stretch.”
The Flames were in the playoff mix all the way up until the March 8 trade deadline, but those hopes came to a crushing halt when they traded away a couple of key defensemen. In turn, Calgary lost eight of 10 outings and fell off the pace.
Calgary’s past two games provided positive momentum while the club integrates more and more young players.
“We want to instill the right attitude, the right culture,” forward Blake Coleman said. “I think we’ve got some guys that have won here and some guys that have been in the league a long time, our young guys can learn from.
“It’s a new challenge. I haven’t been in this position in a while. Our reality is what it is right now, and it can challenge you. When you’re in this spot, to be a better person, leader, teammate, you’ve still got to show up and leave it out there.”
The Ducks (24-47-7, 52 points) arrive in Calgary already eliminated from playoff contention and will finish a five-game road trip in which they have lost the first four outings by a combined 17-5.
Anaheim’s struggles are not new — the Ducks have only one victory in their last 13 games (1-11-1) — but the growing pains continue to hurt. For example, the Ducks erased a two-goal, third-period deficit, but surrendered a late goal in their 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
Coach Greg Cronin pointed out the key in that game-winning tally was that both defensemen on the ice, Olen Zellweger and Cam Fowler, chased the puck carrier behind their net and that left Dakota Joshua alone in front for the game-winner.
“They’re not scoring from behind the net, just stay there,” Cronin said. “We’ve talked about it repeatedly this year, and I don’t know what the big — it’s just foolishness — what the big urge is to go behind the net when somebody has got a puck.”
The end result slightly spoiled Zellweger’s first NHL goal that sparked the comeback attempt, but he was able to relish the moment.
“It’s kind of like a dream for everyone to score their first NHL goal, so I’m pretty happy to be able to do it,” said Zellweger, the 2021 second-round draft pick who played his 19th NHL game.
“I thought the whole game was pretty competitive from us,” Zellweger added. “Not what we wanted at the end, but I’m sure we’ll continue to build on our effort and competitiveness here.”
–Field Level Media