Well, getting badly embarrassed might wake this team up a bit and get them focused. This is what happens when you don't play well and and make too many breakdowns. Markstrom wasn't sharp, but they wouldn't have won this game with a sharp Markstrom, and this is what it looks like when you have a normal human being in net. I thought Rittich was ok and make some huge saves, but the Flames didn't protect him much either.
On the positives - I liked how the Flames played until the end. I was mostly looking to see how they would respond, and was looking for players who were dogging it or avoiding physical contact. That's at least a positive.
Embarrassments happen, even in the best of times. Just an awful game. They played harder and more emotional, generated a bit more (though I thought the shots weren't too great of quality, but they did generate more than last game), but holy heck did they leave their goalies out to dry for the first 2 periods.
|