Flames Game Recaps

Flames Visual Recap 28: Calgary’s woes continue with fourth straight loss, this time to the Bruins

Now handed a four-game losing streak, the Flames are on the verge of entering a rut—if they aren’t already in one already. They have been a busy team, and with the schedule slotting in 15 games in the month of December, the Flames don’t have time to work out kinks in their game right now. They’ll want to turn things around sooner rather than later, but for now, they have split the season series with the Boston Bruins.

First period

The Flames opened the period strong and steady and had significantly more offensive zone time than the Bruins. They were just unable to get anything past Linus Ullmark. While their first showdown of the season was Daniel Vladar versus Jeremy Swayman, this time it was Ullmark versus Jacob Markstrom.

The period saw some chances for both teams, with the Flames opting for quantity while the Bruins went more for quality. The Bruins ended up scoring the first goal of the game when Connor Clifton was able to get a shot past Markstrom on a play that should not have led to a goal at all. It was a shot from afar that posed little threat, yet it snuck past Markstrom as the Flames ceded the first goal of the game for the umpteenth straight game.

Second period

Early in the second period, the Bruins extended their lead to 2–0, then 3–0 on two quick goals courtesy of Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy. Marchand’s goal was a well-timed tip, whereas McAvoy scored after receiving a pass from below the goal line while being completely uncovered for a snipe.

This would be the first time the Flames trailed 3–0 in a game since their season opener against the Edmonton Oilers. The Flames had a hole to climb out of that they haven’t found themselves in often at all. A three-goal deficit without empty net goals included just haven’t been a part of the Flames’ game outcomes this season.

The Flames responded relatively quickly with a goal just past the midway mark of the period. Matthew Tkachuk scored on the power play to cut the lead to two goals. The goal sparked a sense of comeback-ability for the Flames, as an early power play in the period saw plenty of shots with Ullmark standing his ground.

However, despite finally getting a goal, the score remained 3–1 after two period of play.

Third period

The third period was the Flames’ chance to turn the tides back in their favour, but the Bruins promptly put a block on that. Curtis Lazar scored against his former team to restore the Bruins’ three-goal lead.

With their backs agains the wall, the Flames pushed back throughout the period with moderate effectiveness—but again Ullmark was up to the task. The Flames ended up tallying 42 shots throughout the game.

Towards the end of the period, Markstrom remained in his net as the chances of a comeback were fleeting. However a centring pass from Milan Lucic went off of Sean Monahan‘s skate, who was planted right in front of the net. Monahan’s 5v5 goal scoring total is now up to two goals, and includes a ratio of 50% deflections off of his foot.

Now down by two goals, the Flames opted to pull Markstrom, but it was too late as the game would end with a 4–2 final score. The Flames drop their fourth game in a row. Game visualisations are below.

Game events

All situations corsi

Check out our tutorial on how to plot an NHL rink using R with the full code and customisation options included!

5v5 corsi

Shifts

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