Flames Visual Recap 21: Calgary served painful setback to Ottawa in series opener

The Calgary Flames were the last North Division team to face off against the Ottawa Senators. While other teams have more or less enjoyed feasting on a weaker team (aside from the Montreal Canadiens), the Flames entered the series in essentially must-win situations as the points left on the board are already far too valuable for Calgary’s playoff chances.

Not to discredit the Senators, but the Flames aren’t exactly in a position to accept anything less than winning out against Ottawa. Well, things went exactly as you would have expected for Calgary facing a weaker team.

In the first period, the Flames let in two goals amid a stretch of around 10 minutes without so much as a single shot attempt from Calgary. Drake Batherson and Erik Gudbranson scored the goals for Ottawa, putting the Flames in territory they’ve been far too familiar with this season: playing hockey while trailing in the first period.

Calgary responded early in the second period, as Milan Lucic was able to get the Flames on the board and give life to the diminishing Flames. However, the Senators not only responded less then three minutes later with a goal from Connor Brown, but three minutes after restoring their two-goal lead, an Erik Brannstrom shot from the neutral zone beat David Rittich, chasing him from the game.

Artyom Zagidulin was thrown into his first NHL game facing a three-goal deficit. He was the only option, as Jacob Markstrom was placed on the IR and Louis Domingue had to take a leave of absence for personal reasons. After the goalie switch the Flames picked up the pace a bit, but were unable to get anything else pass Matt Murray.

As the Flames faced tough odds heading into the final frame, the Senators sealed the deal as Colin White scored early in the third, and would score again late in the third to push the game to a final score of 6-1 for Ottawa. That’s the third time in six games the Flames would score just one goal and let in at least five, the other two coming against Vancouver and Edmonton in equally embarrassing fashion.

Game visualisations below.