Three takeaways as Flames blanked by Golden Knights in Vegas
And if you’re going to claim two points in one of the NHL’s toughest road barns … well … you’re going to need to put at least one puck in the back of the net.
It didn’t happen Sunday as the Calgary Flames wrapped a two-games-in-two-nights road-trip with a 3-0 shutout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.
“We just weren’t able to find the offence that we needed tonight,” groaned Flames coach Ryan Huska during his post-game media scrum. “But it wasn’t from a lack of effort at all.”
Ilya Samsonov pitched a 31-save shutout for the Golden Knights, who are a league-best 15-3 on home ice
The Flames failed to capitalize on their three power-play opportunities — including a 67-second stretch of five-on-three — and the hosts potted a crucial insurance marker on a third-period man-advantage.
Rasmus Andersson was seated in the sin-bin when Victor Olofsson cranked that one-timer, and the Flames’ workhorse was none-too-pleased with that holding-the-stick call. After Tanner Pearson’s late empty-netter, Andersson ripped away his glove to give a sarcastic thumbs-up to one of the referees.
“I think it was a good effort by us — obviously, a tough schedule with two games so tight together,” assessed Flames centre Connor Zary, referring to the 19-hour gap between Saturday’s final buzzer in San Jose and Sunday’s puck-drop in Sin City. “But at the end of the day, it was little details, little things that weren’t fully perfect, that ended up costing us
The Flames have played four back-to-backs so far this season. In each case, Vladar has been between the pipes for the second game.
It’s always a chore for the masked man as he tries to hold the fort behind a tired team. On Sunday, working on an even- tighter-than-usual turnaround, it was an especially big ask.
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“I thought he was our best player tonight,” Huska praised.
He certainly was.
The 27-year-old Vladar finished with 34 saves. He was especially sharp in the first period, when Natural Stat Trick credited the Golden Knights with 11 high-danger chances.
Among his best stops, he robbed Mark Stone on a deke to his backhand and then denied Alexander Holtz, William Karlsson and Pavel Dorofeyev in rapid succession while the Flames were on the penalty-kill.
Nonetheless, Vladar is now 1-3 this season in this challenging scenario.
PERMANENT SPOT FOR PELLETIER?
Jakob Pelletier was skating Sunday in his 10th game since he was called up from the AHL’s Wranglers, a significant number because it means that the 23-year-old would once again need to clear waivers to be demoted to the minors.
The Flames risked it in early October, and Pelletier went unclaimed, but we expect that the energetic winger will be sticking around this time.
While fellow call-up Walker Duehr was scratched in Sin City, he too has hit the 10 games required to reset his waiver clock.
The Flames are currently carrying 13 forwards — Andrei Kuzmenko was plugged into Sunday’s lineup against the Golden Knights, and we will get to him in a second — and the only dudes on the injured list are out for the remainder of the season, so they can keep both Pellet
