The Calgary Flames, as they typically do, made issues attention-grabbing on Saturday afternoon versus the Buffalo Sabres. Whereas they fought onerous over the second half of the sport, it wasn’t sufficient, as they wound up falling by a 3-2 shootout ultimate.
With the loss, the Flames fall to 7-5-3 on the season. The Sabres are a workforce you’d have favored to see the Flames seize two factors in opposition to, although they deserve some credit score for battling again in what was one more recreation they trailed early. With that mentioned, listed below are the three principal takeaways from this one.
Sluggish Begin Proves Pricey
The Flames have been getting a ton of credit score for battling again in video games, and rightfully so. Their perception that they’re by no means out of a recreation is inspiring, as is their relentless work ethic. That mentioned, they want to determine a method to put collectively a full 60, as there have been far too many video games this season the place they’ve began sluggish out of the gate.
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That was the case as soon as once more at this time, because the Flames had been fully dominated by the Sabres within the first interval, and had been trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes because of this. Had it not been for Dan Vladar, this one may have been rather a lot uglier and became a blowout quite than a shootout ultimate.
Coronato Continues to Impress
With the Flames up in opposition to the ropes, it wasn’t certainly one of their veterans who stepped up and introduced them again into the combat, however 21-year-old Matt Coronato. He has been very good as of late with a latest two-goal outing versus the Montreal Canadiens, and stored it going at this time with a pleasant end on an outstanding go from MacKenzie Weegar.
Coronato has now discovered the again of the web 5 occasions in 10 video games this season, an exceptional enchancment from the three he scored in 34 in 2023-24. There are certain to nonetheless be some rising pains shifting ahead, nevertheless it’s changing into fairly evident that he received’t be spending any extra time within the American Hockey League (AHL).
Vladar Regular Once more
Whereas loads of issues have gone proper for the Flames this season, there has arguably been nothing as spectacular as their goaltending. There weren’t many with a lot confidence going into the season with a Dustin Wolf/Dan Vladar tandem, however to this point, the 2 have each been distinctive.
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Vladar needed to actually battle on this one after giving up two objectives lower than quarter-hour in, however was capable of keep calm and prevented this recreation from actually getting out of hand. Although the stat sheet will present he solely needed to make 17 saves, it hides the truth that a number of had been high-quality scoring possibilities. He was very good on this one, as he has been most of the time to start the 2024-25 season.
Trying Forward for the Flames
As talked about, the Flames now sit at 7-5-3 following at this time’s end result, which supplies them 17 factors on the season. Whereas most will say it’s far too early to have a look at the playoff image, they sit within the prime wild-card spot within the Western Convention, which no person would have envisioned earlier than the season started.
With that mentioned, the Flames have misplaced two in a row, and three of their final 4. They’ll look to place collectively a greater 60-minute effort on Monday, as they return to the Saddledome to face the LA Kings. After that, they’ll head again out on the street for a recreation on Tuesday versus the Vancouver Canucks, earlier than returning to Calgary as soon as once more to tackle the Nashville Predators of their ultimate recreation of the week on Friday. That recreation specifically is a winnable one, because the Predators have been shockingly dangerous to start the season.
