Flames Visual Recap 32: Calgary drops to Toronto, shut out for the first time this season

The Calgary Flames sought to string together two back-to-back wins against the Toronto Maple Leafs to gain some needed ground in the standings. David Rittich started against Jack Campbell with both starters not seeing action since March 4 and February 27, respectively.

While both teams were technically playing tired, the Flames were heavily outmatched by the Leafs right off the get-go. The first period was much dominated by Toronto, which set the tone for the game. The home team was playing with more tenacity on the puck and looked all the more threatening on the ice. Jason Spezza closed out the opening frame with a wicked shot that beat Rittich, giving the Leafs an early lead in the game.

The second period was a bit more even between the two teams, but Toronto was still able to get higher quality shots off compared to Calgary. The Flames struggled to create much offence from in close throughout the whole game. Looking at their all situations shot locations, Calgary’s shooting came from pretty much anywhere and Jack Campbell was hardly tested in high-danger situations.

The Leafs added to their lead before the period was over. As Zach Hyman streaked into the offensive zone, he circled around the net while a Rasmus Andersson hit on Morgan Rielly took the two of them as well as Juuso Valimaki right out of the play. Open for a quick shot, Hyman snuck it past Rittich for the 2-0 lead.

The Flames looked rather discombulated on the ice without much offence generated throughout the whole game. Their response in the third period was getting more shot attempts, but none of them were effective. Calgary spent the whole game kept to the outside, and Campbell ended up shutting out the Flames rather easily.

Watching the scoreboard, the Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens split three points among them as the game went the distance to the shootout and the Canadiens picking up the extra point. A bit of a worst-case scenario for Calgary there, as both teams are currently ahead of the Flames in the standings.

From the game visualisations, with emphasis on the shot locations again, the loss and even the shutout is not so surprising. Check them all out below.