May 9, 2021 / 343 Comments / Sports

The Calgary Flames have five games left on the docket and then the team is going to go their separate ways until training camp in September. But these games could be pretty useful for the coaching staff as they try to lay a foundation for next season.

Here are three ways the Flames could try to improve over their last five games.

Better starts and resiliency

The Flames have been either really good or really not in most of their games this season and that trend has continued under Darryl Sutter. They’ve scored first 13 out of 25 games and won 10 of those games; in the 12 games they’ve allowed the first goal against, they’ve won once. Similarly, they’re winless when trailing after the first and second periods under Sutter.

Simply put, they’re an above-average defensive team under Sutter that unfortunately (a) gives up goals at bad times and (b) can’t bounce back after they get down in games very often.

Better special teams

In an ideal world, a hockey team would be great at both sides of special teams: power plays and penalty kills. You’d probably settle for being good at one and average at the other one. Under Sutter, the Flames are 21st in power play conversions (15.6%) and 19th at killing penalties (80.6%).

With the Flames on the outside of the playoff picture, perhaps we see new faces on either side of special teams. Under Sutter, we’ve seen a few regular faces on special teams:

Power play only: Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, Rasmus Andersson, Milan Lucic, Dillon Dube
Penalty kill only: Chris Tanev, Derek Ryan, Joakim Nordstrom, Michael Stone
Both sides: Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Mikael Backlund, Noah Hanifin (pre-injury)

Juuso Valimaki on the power play could be an interesting look.

Season series improvements

One of the big reasons why the Flames aren’t in a playoff spot is because they lost too many season series against North Division opponents. They won their series against Montreal and are leading Vancouver, but have lost the other four series. Speaking on Thursday, Sutter discussed his team’s need to improve in this regard.

I think there’s definitely thresholds and targets that players have to hit here whether they’re older players or young players. And I’ll demand it of them. Like when you go back to [Wednesday] night, I was disappointed, we had a chance to tie the season series with Winnipeg. We had a chance to do that in Edmonton, also tie the season series and we didn’t. It just tells you that there’s still so much growth and learning to be done here in terms of winning big games and winning series and all that. So there’s a lot that can be accomplished over these games.

For you draft honks hoping for the Flames to get a better pick this year, they could win their season series over Vancouver with just two wins in their four remaining meetings with the Canucks.

These next few games aren’t necessarily about winning or losing, but it’s unlikely that the team will be satisfied by rattling off a series of “productive” losses. They still care very much about the club not getting used to losses of any kind.

343 thoughts on “The Flames aim to lay a foundation for next season”

  331. AxxzDrups

    Somatic manifestations: Autonomic or visceral symptoms, including palpitations, chest pain, tachycardia, fatigue, weakness, perspiration, flushing, numbness, tingling of extremities, vertigo, shortness of breath, headache, blurred vision, tinnitus, diarrhea, tremor, fainting B.
    Shop around for cheap prices on prednisone cost pills from these pharmacies
    Flubok may be considered if the patient is 18-49 years of age.

    Reply
  333. WguuChief

    While there are some situations in which the allergic person suffers such severe symptoms that rehoming the pet is among the steps necessary, in more cases, the allergy sufferer and pet can coexist comfortably in the same household by taking sensible, practical measures.
    doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s safe to buy A great way to tramadol and lyrica for consumers.
    This can lead to painful stomach cramps and constipation.

    Reply
  335. Angkinels

    Importance The expected duration of menopausal vasomotor symptoms VMS is important to women making decisions about possible treatments.
    Popular methods to buy flagyl 500 mg tablet from responsible pharmacies online if you desire competitive
    AIDS-defining illnesses tend to occur most often in patients who have not received antiretroviral treatment for HIV infection or who fail to benefit from antiretroviral treatment.

    Reply
  339. Anrhinels

    Craniopharyngioma are benign tumors that occur at the base of the brain near the nerves from the eyes to the brain and the hormone centers.
    Does neurontin dosing for neuropathy illegally.
    I am also taking cranberry concentrate soft gels, as my midwife told me to avoid cranberry juice, which is high in sugar and will only feed the bacteria.

    Reply
  340. AngdDrups

    Neurocytoma This rare grade II tumor typically occurs in a lateral ventricle in the region of the foramen of Monro, and occasionally extends into the third ventricle as well.
    offers received from pharmacies to get low prices when you should cephalexin be taken with food since it’s a successful treatment
    When may an employer refuse to hire, terminate, or temporarily restrict the duties of a person who has diabetes because of safety concerns?

    Reply
  341. WnenChief

    Some patients may require an experience that exceeds five days and others may require as few as four days.
    When you nolvadex for gyno on cycle is so much less that people prefer to shop online.
    The prognosis for recovery depends on the specific disorder, the severity of the patient’s symptoms, the specific causes of the anxiety, and the patient’s degree of control over these causes.

    Reply
  342. WtmgChief

    Some women will have many, some will have few.
    if you do it via the web | Benefiting from risk free remedy? sildenafil dose for high blood pressure at fantastic prices so that you can reduce symptoms and get
    Sign me up Don’t show againRemind me laterThis leaflet is part of our series on allergiesAnaphylaxisDrug allergyFood allergy and intoleranceHouse dust mite and pet allergyNut allergyPatch testing for contact dermatitisSkin prick allergy test.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *