The Calgary Flames entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs as one of the favorites to emerge from the Western Conference. Instead, they were upset by the Colorado Avalanche in five games. What happened?
The Calgary Flames finished the regular season as the second-best team in the NHL. They were the second best offensive team averaging 3.52 goals per game. Furthermore, the Flames amassed 50 wins and 107 points while securing the number one seed in the Western Conference.
They were heavy favorites heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs and their first-round matchup against the Colorado Avalanche. But the Flames season is over after being handily dispatched by Colorado in five games. How did this happen???
What Went Wrong
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Well, it actually might be simpler to just ask what didn’t go wrong for the Flames in their opening round no show against the Avalanche. But let’s talk about a few of the big ones.
Top Line Was Shut Down
The trio of Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm, and Johnny Gaudreau combined to total only five points in five games. Monahan had one goal and one assist, Lindholm potted a goal and an assist, while Gaudreau had just one assist.
At home, in a do-or-die game five, Gaudreau was unable to convert on a penalty shot early on and then later also failed to convert on a breakaway attempt. The two failures were pretty much a microcosm for exactly how the series played out.
Lack of Secondary Scoring/Too Dependent on Gaudreau:
After winning Game 1 by a score of 4-0, the Flames only managed a total of seven goals in the last 4 games averaging just 1.75 goals per game. Looking into the stats a bit further, in Calgary’s 25 regular season losses, Gaudreau only had 1 goal for 13 points with a -19 plus-minus rating.
For his career, in now 20 playoff games, he only has four goals with a -8 plus-minus rating. Could the key just be as simple as shut down Gaudreau and you shut down the Flames?
Has anyone seen James Neal? After signing a huge free agent contract to join the Flames this past offseason, Neal had a horrendous season by all standards. In Game 5, the biggest game of the season, he was healthy scratched.
Neal never got his game going in Calgary this year and saw regular time on the 4th line during the regular season. Neal recorded a career-low 7 goals in the regular season. Of all the Flames skaters to have played in as many games as Neal, only two recorded fewer goals- defenseman Noah Hanifin and rookie defenseman Rasmus Andersson.
Colorado Wanted It More
The Avalanche had to scratch and claw their way into the playoffs. For the last month of the season, Colorado was pretty much playing playoff games every night as they needed to win to get in. Calgary, on the other hand, had their playoff spot locked up and secured. The Flames were unable to turn on the switch, didn’t have any fight back, and couldn’t seize momentum.
In the two road games in the series, the Flames gave up an embarrassing 108 shots. This was a true sign they had no answers on how to handle the Avalanche. Colorado’s top line had their way all series. Nathan MacKinnon had eight points, Gabriel Landeskog had four points, and Mikko Rantanen had nine points.
The Positive
Uh, if you could find one positive, Sam Bennett, the former fourth overall pick in 2014, played well, registering five points in five games. Not the type of positives the Flames needed to win the series which is why they now find themselves watching at home.
In the end, the Calgary Flames were an extreme disappointment in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The team that dominated the Western Conference for much of the regular season can only hope to use this as a learning experience. The Playoff version of the Flames looked timid, not confident and like they had no place being on the same ice as Colorado.