Sunday evening was removed from a banner-worthy efficiency from Martin Pospisil. Going through off in opposition to the Edmonton Oilers, the Calgary Flames have been capable of erase a two-goal deficit to get issues tied up early within the third interval, however a significant mistake from Pospisil killed any and all momentum they’d constructed.
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That main mistake was an premature penalty halfway by way of the third interval, when the 24-year-old bought his stick up on Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm. It was a careless penalty that got here on account of Pospisil not shifting his ft. To make issues even worse, it was an offensive-zone penalty, which all the time drive coaches loopy.
The Oilers did what the Oilers do and made the Flames pay, as Zach Hyman put a stunning backhand over Dan Vladar’s shoulder to regain the lead. That turned out to be all she wrote, as Mattias Janmark sealed issues with an empty netter a short while later to provide the Oilers a 4-2 win.
Huska Not Comfortable
If this have been to be one-off from Pospisil, it will be fairly straightforward for head coach Ryan Huska and your entire Flames fan base to forgive him. In spite of everything, errors occur, and whereas it was a careless penalty, it clearly wasn’t a two-minute minor taken with intent.
This has grow to be a slightly common prevalence for Pospisil, nevertheless, who’s rapidly drawing a status for taking penalties early on in his NHL profession. He had 109 penalty minutes as a rookie a season in the past, a slightly ridiculous complete on condition that he by no means appeared in a single struggle. Up to now in 2024-25, it’s been extra of the identical.
To Pospisil’s credit score, his 17 penalty minutes by way of 12 video games don’t put him on as dangerous of a tempo as he was at a season in the past. Additionally, 5 of these penalty minutes got here by way of a struggle with Philadelphia Flyers ahead Tyson Foerster. With that mentioned, loads of his infractions early on have been egocentric, and he was even benched earlier within the season after taking two separate minors versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“We’ll do our greatest to educate it out of him. There are alternative ways you are able to do that, however a whole lot of that’s on the participant,” Huska mentioned postgame. “That’s twice now. It’s not okay.”
“He’s the kind of participant that’s gotta play with an edge, but it surely’s not a reckless model that he has to play,” Huska continued. “On the finish of the day, factors are so invaluable, it’s so exhausting to win on this league. If you happen to overstep the boundary somewhat bit, it could value you a sport. I feel he understands it, and he’s bought to actually work to be a greater participant in that regard for us.”
Message Not Getting Via
As talked about, Pospisil has been reprimanded for his lack of self-discipline earlier than, having been benched earlier within the season. That clearly didn’t work, as he was proper again to his outdated antics once more final evening. At this level, it’s fairly clear as to what Huska must do to lastly get that message by way of.
The Flames are again in motion tonight in opposition to the Montreal Canadiens, they usually’d be finest served to have Pospisil sit as a wholesome scratch. It’s not superb, as he brings a uniqueness to their lineup because of his pace and physicality, however sooner or later, sufficient is sufficient.
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Not solely ought to this function a wake-up name to Pospisil, however it’ll additionally present everybody else within the Flames room that undisciplined play is not going to be accepted. This isn’t a roster with a ton of expertise, which means that in the event that they hope to compete, they should play mistake-free hockey, which Pospisil has not performed.
The Flames have the our bodies to make this occur, as Justin Kirkland has been sitting out the previous two video games as a wholesome scratch. He’s greater than deserving of getting again into the lineup with how effectively he’s performed early this season, and placing him again in over Pospisil could be a troublesome, however necessary message for Huska to ship.
