[PGT] Panthers 6 Flames 2

[genetic_phreek]

Dube is really wasting his opportunities. He's the centre and should be driving play but his positional play is so suspect.

[Vinny01]

Started to fast forward when Florida got the 5th goal. I really thought it was a relatively even matchup until the end of the second. That Lomberg goal was bad. The Hornquivst goal was bad.

Good news is Coleman had a hell of a game and was highly engaged. Flames need Backlund, Coleman, Monahan, Dube to start helping Mangiapane and Lucic provide some offense outside of the top line.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Markstrom would have had to keep them at 1 to win this game...he wasn't great but hardly the reason they lost

Flames have really set themselves up with the best record in the Pacific despite the toughest schedule

Coach said a few things
- you can’t win if you let in that many
- there were some D that didn’t want to play the checking part of the game
- sometimes your goalie has to be better than the other one


Interpret as you wish, if you will

Huberdeau only had one point, but man, he is a beast

[FanIn80]

Missed the game. Only replay I bothered watching was Johnny's goal, so I'm still in a relatively good mood. Everything about that goal was awesome... Kylington seeing the opportunity, Tkachuk reading the opportunity and Johnny predicting the opportunity and just straight up teleporting down the ice like Pavel Bure the Second.

[Strange Brew]

In the big picture, probably good to get thumped once in a while.

Keeps you grounded, if you will.
Reminds you of what you need to do to win.
Puts a spotlight on team's weaknesses that need to be addressed by management.

[taxbuster]

Super entertaining first period -- not sure that is what the coach drew up though.

The rest of the game - well, the second was decent enough from an entertainment perspective, but again...not Sutter hockey. The third was a goner.

Sutter not happy with his D tonight at all. And for good reason - while they got some clean passes out of the zone and set up decent rushes they were horrid in front of the net. Couldn't clear guys out and left Thornton (?) all alone...with no one even close...one of the few guys in the league I can't stand as it happens.

Flames lost their cool and let Florida dictate the pace and style of the game. They won't win that way. Good lesson to learn early.

[CRXguy]

That late 4th goal shouldn't have happened. Better chance at coming back in the 3rd down one.

[Chingas]

Win lots lose some it's ok.
Does anyone else see Pitlck as Blake Comeau 2.0? Skates fast in straight lines. Absolutely no idea how to handle the puck, make or take a pass. Might as well be carrying a ringette stick out there.

[btimbit]

Well, the first period was some fun close hockey.

That's about all I got to say about this one

[djsFlames]

Some of the guys further down this roster are especially useless, and the best you can hope for is that they get out of it even. They don't add anything.

Namely Pitlick, Ritchie, Richardson when he's in, and lately Dube.

Backlund is also close to that territory of late.

Theres too much roster "fat" on this team that in games where it becomes a matchup of depth, we get overpowered by any club that has useful players three and four lines deep.

I get rewarding Ritchie for his play late last year with a 13/14th forward contract.

I don't get having both Ritchie and Pitlick as game regulars when healthy, often playing above your 4th line too.

They do Not help this team be competitive!

I'd be squeezing a guy like Pitlick out of the line up in favour of one of the Stockton kids who are hitting it out of the park.

He's brought virtually nothing over a significant sample size.

We've been winning so its easy to look the other way, but now that you're faced with a bad loss against a good team, and you're trying to match up better with teams like this, you start finding the glaring weak links.

We need all 12 forwards bringing something to the table. Roughly only half of them have been contributing for a while now.

[DeluxeMoustache]

* fair, and then again maybe another night, this game has a different result

With a look back at what actually happened, does switching out Ritchie for Pitlick make Andersson notice Thornton?

[Huntingwhale]

Biggest spanking of the season the Flames have gotten thus far. Says a lot about how they've played all season long. Still, was an enjoyable game to watch.

This is the best I have ever seen the Panthers play...like ever. Can't recall much about their Cup run way back, but holy F if they play like this night in night out, they will steamroll any team.

Flames played at a fast pace, but the Panthers were always a step faster. I also love watching Bobrovsky play. Such an exciting goalie when his game in on, and boy he on this game. Huberdeau is a great player too. Nice to see his and Coleman's rivalry spilling over. And of course Barkov. What a beast he is.

Knew this was one of the hardest stretches of the season so no shame in losing this one. Get the blow out over with and onto the next.

[Goriders]

That was a benchmark game.

What I took from it was the Flames are a very good team. Florida just had an extra gear.

Both play similar styles. Quick with hard forecheckFlorida has a few more weapons up front.

Flames took a few to many penalties. Can’t give top teams any extra chances.

Hopefully we can take one against Tampa Bay or Carolina.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Had to watch this one recorded. Sorry I couldn't offer my thoughts during the game.

I wouldn't feel too bad about this one. The Panthers have done this to many good teams on their home ice. They just have some extra mojo there for whatever reason.

But I will also say that they looked especially ready for the pace and effort level required to match the Flames. They aren't always that engaged, so it speaks to the reputation the Flames have, as well as their desire to prepare well for any opponent. They were far more engaged in checking and even had some extra physical play last night.

What this game boiled down to is that the Panthers seemed prepared to play the Flames style, but then once they matched them, they changed the style of play towards their free-flowing attack style. The Flames never managed to turn the style of game back, and that was all it took.

I would also agree with others that said the Panthers are just a much deeper team that comes at you in waves. Lines 1-4 can all score every night. The Flames did get some secondary attack with Backlund/Coleman, and the top line was pretty dangerous all night.

If I had to boil down the difference? Goaltending was a little better for Florida (even though Markstrom held them in it during the 2nd period onslaught), and the Panthers were more lethal with their finishing of plays. Flames just need 1 or 2 more finishers to get to the next level.

[kyuss275]

Flames got away from Sutter hockey and it cost them . Good learning moment.
Also must be nice to have secondary scoring win you game. Thornton , hornquist (2) , Lomberg , min tour and his d partner all with goals . All those guys play on bottom 6 forward and bottom pairing d . Flames secondary scoring has to wake up!!!

[Always Earned Never Given]

Flames have trouble with teams that cherry pick like Knights and Panthers do.

It's the best option the other team has on beating Sutter's checking style and especially Flames D who are aggressive in closing the gaps.

Flames need to be aware of other teams F1 and F2 flying the zone as soon as their D has the puck.

Also, seems all the tip shots by Flames ended hitting Bob!

One of those nights ...

[Toonage]

As predicted, it was bat####.

Markstrom didn't get a lot of help, but also didn't give a lot of help.

Flames were literally chasing the game. Great game to learn from though.

If I'm Darryl, I start Vladar tomorrow. If the team has any inkling of taking things easy defensively when Markstrom is in, this is the game to clean that up.

[Goriders]

Betting the game in cgy will be a lot different. Florida had a great game. But it wasn’t like they steamrolled the Flames.

[Jason14h]

I feel like the Flames really need to remake the bottom of their roster, but it is very hard with the contracts albatrosses they have to have any flexibility.

in 04 they brought in Donaven, Simon and Nieminen

They need to something similar, but not sure if they have enough cap flexibility.

Just too many players that don't bring enough in the bottom 6

[Moneyhands23]

Call up Pelletier and make a trade for a top 6 right wing.