Calgary Coughed Up A 2-0 Lead & Falls To Washington 5-4

Calgary Flames 4 – Washington Capitals 5

Full Statistics

Scoring

1st: CGY 9:40- Lindholm (Gaudreau/Andersson)

2nd: CGY 8:54- Ruzicka (Mangiapane/Dube), WSH 10:27- Sheary (Unassisted), WSH 13:23- Ovechkin (Kuznetsov)

3rd: CGY 3:45- Kylington (Coleman), WSH 8:21- Mantha (Backstrom/Jensen), WSH 11:50- Dowd (Jonsson-Fjallby/Jensen), WSH 18:12- Ovechkin (Jensen/Wilson), CGY 19:20- Lindholm (Andersson/Toffoli)

Well, sometimes you just don’t have it and that was the case for the Flames this evening as the fell to the Washington Capitals tonight 5-4.

Calgary had a 2-1 lead in the second period, but Washington kept pushing back and that’s the kind of game the Flames didn’t want to be matched up in. Going goal for goal with Alexander Ovechkin and Co. isn’t something you want to do.

After regaining the lead on a Oliver Kylington goal at 3-2, the Caps kicked it into another gear and would score back to back, unanswered goals to give them a 4-3 lead that they would not relinquish.

The final marker of the evening for Washington came off the stick of Ovechkin, giving him his 766 goal of his career, putting him in third place all time.

Calgary made it slightly interesting with a goal by Elias Lindholm at the end, but the Flames would fall 5-4 to the Caps.

Highlights

Final Thoughts

-Calgary REALLY struggled to clear the puck tonight, whether it was in deep or in front of their own net, they just couldn’t move the puck out of their own zone to relieve some pressure and it hurt them a few times.

-Dan Vladar didn’t have his best performance (22 saves on 26 shots), the cherry on top being his odd choice of timing to leave the ice for the extra skater, giving the puck to Washington in the Flames end and allowing Alexander Ovechkin to score his 766th goal of his career.

-The Flames were THIS close to tying the game 5-5, but Andrew Mangiapane would miss a WIDE OPEN net in the waning moments. Which rounded out an interesting night with an assist, a goal taken off the board for offside and the aforementioned open net miss.

-The loss ends the Flames points streak at home, which was going to happen at some point. Calgary’s schedule is very busy this week and they, honestly, looked tired tonight.

Flame Of The Game

Elias Lindholm (C): 2 goals, 5 SOG, 50% FO, 1 blocked shot

What’s Next?

3/10: Calgary Flames vs Tampa Bay Lightning, 7 PM MT

by Mark Parkinson