Instant Reaction: Flames fall short against Mammoth

Shots were 4-3 Mammoth when Andersson scored. From that point onward, the Mammoth pressed and Devin Cooley had to be sharp.

First period shots were 10-5 Mammoth. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 3-2 Flames and high-dangers were 1-1.

Early in the second period, right after a successful penalty kill for the Flames, the Mammoth cashed in. Cooley fired the puck around the boards but it bounced and didn’t hit its intended recipient for the zone exit. The Mammoth grabbed the puck, made a couple passes, and Barrett Hayton scored with a shot from the slot to tie the game at 1-1.

A little later, the Mammoth grabbed the lead. An attempted pass at the point from Brayden Pachal to Zayne Parekh was intercepted by J.J. Peterka, and he turned on the speed and beat Cooley on a breakaway to give the Mammoth a 2-1 lead.

Second period shots were 18-3 Mammoth. 5v5 scoring chances were 11-4 Mammoth and high-dangers were 6-2 Mammoth.

The Flames pressed in the third period, trying to get the tying goal. The Mammoth defended pretty well, for the most part, and got some key saves from Vejmelka.

Kevin Stenlund ricocheted a puck out of the Mammoth zone and it slid the length of the ice for the empty-netter to give the Mammoth a 3-1 victory.

Third period shots were 12-4 Flames.

Why the Flames lost

The Flames were pretty decent in the first period! Then they seemed to unplug their controller, leaving poor Devin Cooley to fend for himself for much of the period.

Yeah, this was a scheduled loss because of the situation the Flames were in: playing their second game in as many nights with travel. But the Flames did themselves zero favours with how they managed the middle 30 minutes of this game, with their parade to the penalty box really taxing some of their key players.

Red Warrior

Devin Cooley. He was, by far, the most impactful player on the road team.

Turning point

The Mammoth scored twice in the first 4:24 of the second period – two goals in a span of just 3:08 – to take the lead.

This and that

This was the Flames on-ice debut for Devin Cooley, after dressing once last season and four times this season as backup. The Flames made two lineup changes: Justin Kirkland and Brayden Pachal entered the lineup, and Matvei Gridin and Daniil Miromanov rotated out.

Adam Klapka fought Jack McBain in the second period.

After Burner

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

Up next

The Flames (1-4-0) are headed to Sin City! They’re back in action on Saturday night when they face the Vegas Golden Knights.