Flames Visual Recap 5: Calgary falls short of comeback attempt in Columbus

The Calgary Flames took to the ice against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night in what proved to be a tough battle on a back end of a back-to-back set. Despite putting up 37 shots on goal, the Flames struggled to convert their opportunities and suffered a 3–1 defeat at Nationwide Arena.

The Flames were held scoreless through two periods, but Elias Lindholm managed to break the shutout bid with a shorthanded goal at 10:37 in the third period, where he was a beneficiary of a pass from Johnny Gaudreau. However, with Gaudreau dressed in blue, the pass was a failed keep at the blueline that led to a Lindholm breakaway goal.

Unfortunately, the Flames were unable to find the game-tying goal, and Zach Werenski sealed the deal for the Blue Jackets with an empty-net goal.

Goaltender Jacob Markstrom continued to impress for the Flames, making 26 saves during the game, perhaps none bigger than this one.

JACOB MARKSTROM, YOU'RE A MAD MAN! pic.twitter.com/VUKeRgESYn
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) October 21, 2023

When Markstrom is dialled in, he is really dialled in. Unfortunately, he looks to be mired by the combination of getting in good games without run support.

For the Flames, it’s back to the drawing board. An early yet worrying trend is that the Flames shoot from anywhere and everywhere. There’s no extra pass to turn a low-danger play into a high-danger opportunity. See the shot charts below and see how evenly distributed their shots are from across the entire offensive zone. Successfully hockey calls for more shots from the slot, and the Flames have yet to adopt such a system.

Game events

Goals

Goals	Assists	Time	Score
Sean Kuraly	Justin Danforth, Ivan Provorov	06:29 \| 2nd	CGY 0 – 1 CBJ
Justin Danforth	Jack Roslovic, Zach Werenski	08:45 \| 3rd	CGY 0 – 2 CBJ
Elias Lindholm (SHG)	Mikael Backlund	10:37 \| 3rd	CGY 1 – 2 CBJ
Zach Werenski	Unassisted	17:39 \| 3rd	CGY 1 – 3 CBJ