Flames fall 3-2 to the cargo planes

[browna]

Since Feb 1 2020, Rittich 4-6 in regular season, and pulled 3 times.

Not including one of the most horrific playoff games being completely unprepared letting 3 goals in on the first 5 shots he saw and fortunate no more went in on the further 4 shots.

In most of those games there was at least one goal that just shouldn't go in, and that was the case tonight.

It's been pretty much downhill for him since the stick drop a few days after the Asg (by default) vs the Oilers.

[SeanCharles]

I can give Rittich a pass on this one but I was just talking about how I don’t think Lucic should be on the PP and maybe they should give Bennett a look there as he can play a similar role on PP2 if given a chance. Sure enough

Sure enough Lucic makes a horrible pass and Rittich is hung out to dry.

Lucic had a great game yesterday and today no so much.

[Ragnar]

The man management by Ward and Huska is baffling. How many times does Lucic have to giveaway the puck before he's benched? How many shinpads does Gio have to hit on the PP? It's not 2014 anymore.

Give Phillips a run out or even Robinson.

Our 5v5 offense is trash.

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

I can give Rittich a pass on this one but I was just talking about how I don’t think Lucic should be on the PP and maybe they should give Bennett a look there as he can play a similar role on PP2 if given a chance. Sure enough

Sure enough Lucic makes a horrible pass and Rittich is hung out to dry.

Lucic had a great game yesterday and today no so much.

They should let Lucic take the second half of a back to back off maybe. He did drive the net once tonight, but he is big and old so the rest couldn't hurt in a shortened season.

[1_Flames_Fan]

I like Rittitch and this loss definitely isn't all on him but as a fan I'm just not very confident in him right now. I hope the team feels differently.

[Flames0910]

Tkachuk/Backlund have always played well together. They are both struggling this year, and it's insane to not try them together. Go with Tkachuk-Backlund-Mangiapane.

For a management group that says they are keen on pairings, it’s baffling that we consistently only seem to have one pairing that works - Johnny & Monahan. Everything else is throw it into the blender and hope for the best.

[ForeverFlameFan]

I thought we played okay. The first goal was brutal after the Lucic TO and then a terrible read on Rittich with the second goal. We buckled down and quickly answered back, which shows a lot of promise with the resiliency of this team. Unfortunately, a lucky bounce on the third goal and we are playing catch up the rest of the game. We almost tied the game at the end there, but it seemed like our luck ran out just as the game clock went to zero.

This is a game to build off of. On to the next one!

[Flames0910]

Originally Posted by 1_Flames_Fan

I like Rittitch and this loss definitely isn't all on him but as a fan I'm just not very confident in him right now. I hope the team feels differently.

Kelly and Rick were talking him up for settling into the game but idk, not sure you get a lot of confidence from the team when you let in three in the first (sometimes you have to make the hard saves too)...

[oldschoolcalgary]

missed the game, but i hope Rittich is able to find his game; as great as Markstromm has been, its a long (relatively) season.

Going to need Rittich to become BSD again for stretches at least...

[tvp2003]

It could be worse. Our backup could be Marcus Hogberg...

[djsFlames]

Pretty well all of our losses (- gm.1) have come from getting beat in the first period. Whether in play or goals or both.

This is a team that with Markstrom, will be very hard to come back against if we start the game with a lead.

Exhibit A: Montreal shutout

Can we try and score first even 50% of the time? It would go a very long way i think to solving our woes.

This playing from behind 20 or 40 minutes in 2 of every 3 games needs to end.

I think this was one of our biggest issues in the bubble too.

Come prepared to play. Whatever it takes.

Even when we've had 2nd period slumps, things have gone way better outcome-wise when we've come out with a good first period.

I don't know how many times that has to be demonstrated to these guys to understand the importance of good starts.

Make it easy and don't start with a deficit to overcome. Even deadlocked after 20 minutes is a hell of a lot better.

Just don't spot them a ####ing lead Thursday, please!

[Rubicant]

Can’t keep digging large holes early in the game - it’s killing us.

Jets defended well, very quick closing off on the puck carrier and getting in shooting lanes.

Rittich settled down, hopefully he can calm himself down a bit for future games because we need points to be a possibility when our backup is in.

5 on 5 needs a lot of work generating chances. Most of our team might simply be too slow, or play too slow.

Team record/results thus far does not scream contender. Hope they can get rolling.

[blender]

Originally Posted by Mass_nerder

Accidentally posted this in the GT:
Jets did a really good job pressuring our defence and taking away time when we were in their zone. It really disrupted our ability to set up in the zone for sustained pressure, plus it primed them for odd-man rushes when one of our d coughed up the puck.
Literally every time the puck was at the point, they had a forward busting their ass out to the point to challenge.

It bugs me that Ward either doesn't notice these things, or he refuses to adapt his game plan to respond.

Good points, but I would argue that they were adjusting in the 3rd. Maybe too little too late

[ComixZone]

I find that this team really struggles generating 5v5 offence when they aren’t chasing/the other team isn’t sheltering in their own half of the ice.

Until there’s an “oh god time is running out” emotional punch, this team is just flat and doesn’t really “force the issue” and generate anything. I’m sure the counting stats say the team is in it, but I think they’re in it like they were with Gully. Flat, perimeter hockey waiting for something to happen rather than making something happen.

I don’t like how this season has started at all. 4 wins, 5 losses - two shutouts by elite goalie.

[WhiteTiger]

Ugh. Oh, well.

[N-E-B]

I’m really frustrated because I feel like this team deserves to have a better record. These multi-goal 1st period deficits are getting real old.

[SeanCharles]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

It could be worse. Our backup could be Marcus Hogberg...

Our tandem could be Murray/Hogberg..

Murray signed for same term but half a mill per more than Markstrom.

[bubbsy]

Better team won. Jets will be even better with dubois.

Flames don't have enough skill to be opportunistic. They need a billion chances before they pot one.

It's been cute to see lucic make a nice play every half dozen games or so, but is this team really better with him on the ice??? Why the hell is he still anywhere near the power play?

[TheSquatch]

"Deserves" is ... complicated.

Lucic gives up a puck and doesn't hustle to pick up a man after, literally gives the Jets a primo scoring chance.

So what do you deserve? To be down 1 nothing.


You can carry play, you can look good, you can do all sorts of stuff, and it's nice to see that stuff, but .... you gotta win, and you gotta start games with some fire and readiness.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

I find that this team really struggles generating 5v5 offence when they aren’t chasing/the other team isn’t sheltering in their own half of the ice.

Until there’s an “oh god time is running out” emotional punch, this team is just flat and doesn’t really “force the issue” and generate anything. I’m sure the counting stats say the team is in it, but I think they’re in it like they were with Gully. Flat, perimeter hockey waiting for something to happen rather than making something happen.

I don’t like how this season has started at all. 4 wins, 5 losses - two shutouts by elite goalie.

Actually I think they've been better 5 on 5 in the last three. Not great, but it's improving.

I think they're just starting to get in the rhythm of things. Not an ideal start by any means but they had a really poorly timed break in there and took a few games to find some semblance of their game again. So that has handicapped the already small sample size.

I keep going back to the fact that every season it takes a month or more for teams to get into the flow. We're not even there and had less prep than normal.

Key depth guys like Backlund and Ryan have a lot more to give and should improve as we go along. Lucic too. Those guys need games to get up to speed at their ages.

So I want to see how it plays out.

If they can have on average better first periods I think they'll win much more frequently. First thing is fixing the starts. Don't lose the first period. Go from there.