Instant Reaction: Flames fade in loss to Senators

First period shots were 8-8.

The Flames were decent enough in the second period, but the Senators were a lot sharper than in the first, made more plays and won more battles. Devin Cooley had to make a few big stops.

Midway through the second, though, the Senators finally broke through. The Flames couldn’t quite connect on a zone exit sequence, and the Senators intercepted the errant pass and kept the pressure on. A couple passes later, Lars Eller blasted a one-timer from just inside the blueline that beat Cooley to tie the game at 1-1.

Second period shots were 11-7 Senators.

The Flames opened the third period with three consecutive minor penalties. They killed off the first and the third Senators power plays, but the second one they weren’t as fortunate. The Senators won a battle along the side boards and Brady Tkachuk passed to Dylan Cozens in the slot. He was all alone because Kevin Bahl was waiting for a pass below the goal line, probably hoping they’d win the puck battle. Anyway, Cozens scored to give the Senators a 2-1 lead.

The Flames battled to try to tie the game back up, but to no avail. Tim Stueztle and Shane Pinto added empty-netters in the last two minutes of regulation to give the visitors a 4-1 victory.

Third period shots were 18-5 Senators.

Why the Flames lost

The Flames were fine. They started fairly strong but then fell off in the second half of the game. Meanwhile, the Senators found another gear in the second period and the Flames just could not match it. They also just made some miscues at bad times, between turnovers and too many penalties, and it hurt them in a close game.

Red Warrior

Almost by default, we’ll give it to Devin Cooley. He was superb.

But honourable mention to Matvei Gridin, who was very energetic throughout.

Turning point

Three minors in the first 10 minutes of third period in a tie game? That’s a recipe for disaster.

This and that

Newly-acquired Olli Maatta was not in the lineup, as he was still in transit to join the Flames. The defensive pairings, with MacKenzie Weegar now a Mammoth and Maatta in transit, were Kevin Bahl/Zach Whitecloud, Joel Hanley/Brayden Pachal and Yan Kuznetsov/Zayne Parekh.

Senators captain Brady Tkachuk was booed whenever he touched the puck.

After Burner

Join Mike Gould and Robert Munnich right after the game for After Burner!

Up next

The Flames (24-30-7) host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night. But first, the NHL’s trade deadline, Friday at 1 p.m. MT.