By Kristen Anderson
October 25, 2018
Mike Smith lets in a goal during the Penguins' 9-1 win over the Flames (Jeff MacIntosh/The Canadian Press/AP)
In an economy that is still challenging, in a city that is trying to make their case on a world stage to host the 2026 Winter Olympics, and in a building that is the oldest in the National Hockey League, patrons — rightfully so — have choices on how to spend their entertainment dollars.
The product that the Calgary Flames put on the ice in Thursday’s 9-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins did not do anything to make those choices easy.
It was Calgary’s worst loss since Jan. 5, 2012, when they were crushed 9-0 by the Boston Bruins.
It was their worst home ice loss since Nov. 26, 1996, when they lost 10-1 to Edmonton.
It was, by far, their worst loss of the young 2018-19 campaign.
Down 7-0 after 40 minutes of action, the players shuffled to the dressing room with their heads hung low to the tune of boos from their home fans who have now seen back-to-back losses after a 3-2 setback on the road at Montreal on Tuesday.
They headed for the exits soon after Jack Johnson scored with 21 seconds left in the middle frame, departing not because they wanted to get in line early for the bathrooms (a necessity as a patron at the antiquated Dome). Many didn’t return.
After the Penguins padded their touchdown-sized lead in the third period, fans screamed: “We want 10.” The boos continued as the final horn sounded.
Mike Smith didn’t hide.
“I’d be booing us too,” the Flames netminder said, visibly disgusted at the effort including his own which saw him pulled after allowing six goals on 21 shots. “They have a right to voice their opinion. And, to be honest, if I was a fan, I’d be upset also.”
The tone was set when Sidney Crosby cruised into Calgary’s zone with Sam Bennett draped all over him, drove to the net with one hand on his stick, and managed to get another hand on it before roofing a back-hander over Smith’s shoulder. There was just 4:23 elapsed in the opening frame and at the end of the first 20 minutes, the Flames were only down 3-0.
Smith, who was yanked at 9:19 of the second period, absorbed the blame on his shoulders. But the entirety of the loss cannot possibly be pegged on the goaltender alone.
“I thought we started on time and thought we had some chances in the first,” Smith said. “When they got their first one, it kind of snowballed from there. But bounces are going to happen during the games. Instead of sitting back and pouting about it, you have to do something about it.
“Unfortunately tonight we just got steamrolled.”
To the cheers of the Saddledome, David Rittich replaced Smith and allowed three goals on 15 shots — one of the markers was with 6:05 remaining when the Flames completely left Jake Guentzel unmanned in front to tip in Crosby’s point shot. The other came with 1:26 remaining in the third, seconds after Neal had scored the Flames’ lone goal of the game.
“I thought we started the game in the right fashion and then you get puck-watching a little bit and all of a sudden, they get a few goals and then we’re chasing it,” Neal said. “And against those guys . . . They were holding onto pucks, they were doing everything the right way, and we were just watching them.
We can talk all we want, but for us, we have to fix it and we will.”
In the grand scheme of things, this could be a blip.
Two points squandered and one ‘L’ in an 82-game season. It’s only their second loss in four home games this season.
But after playing what Matthew Tkachuk called an “embarrassing effort” on Tuesday in Montreal, the response was mind-blowing.
“It kind of snowballed all in front of our eyes there,” said the Flames winger. “We got into a bit of a track meet mindset at the beginning. At team that talented, that’s kind of what they want . . . it’s not great, it’s not what you want. But it’s not like we’ve been terrible at home. But it’s definitely something that doesn’t sit well with us.
“We kind of got blown out of the building there. Letting nine goals go in on you? That’s not good.”
Only two players escaped the game without a minus to their stat-line: Garnet Hathaway and Austin Czarnik.
The Flames did get chances, 38 of them in fact and 14 in the third period. But Penguins netminder Matt Murray and the visitor’s slick defensive coverage played them relentlessly.
Not to mention Crosby and his pals put on a scoring clinic. Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel each scored two goals while Bryan Rust, Johnson, Guentzel, and Matt Cullen all had singles.
The Penguins went two-for-two on their powerplay while the Flames man advantage continues to sputter.
They were 0-for-three and it was the seventh game this season they’ve been shut-out, now six-for-41 through 10 games this season.
“Obviously you guys (the media) come in and we’re not happy,” Smith said. “It’s easy to point and say, ‘This was wrong and this was wrong.’ We played a very good hockey team and from me out, no one was very good. When that happens, it’s just a recipe for disaster.”
The Flames are 5-5-0 this season and it only gets worse as the defending Stanley Cup champions arrive for a matinee on Saturday.
A LITTLE SALTY
Not even Nusret Gokce could add his magic touch on this one.
Prior to puck drop, Mike Smith had been joking with the media about the internet sensation ‘Salt Bae,’ a Turkish butcher whom back-up netminder David Rittich had ran into during the Calgary Flames’ recent trip to New York City.
“Whatever Salt Bae sprinkled on him in New York, I want a little bit of that too,” Smith had deadpanned after the morning skate.
The Flames’ No. 1 netminder was only joking. But it was doubtful that Smith was in a joking mood after allowing six goals on 21 shots as the Pittsburgh Penguins racked up a 6-0 lead halfway through the second period.
The final straw was Phil Kessel’s second marker of the game, a breakaway fresh out of the penalty box. Rittich, who’d been blessed by Salt Bae ahead of a 44-save effort and 4-1 win against the Rangers, came in for mop-up duty.
Heading into Thursday’s clash, the 36-year-old’s numbers were not flattering — 3-3-0 with a 3.38 goals against average and .885 save percentage. Allowing three goals on 14 shots in the first period didn’t help matters any, although it can be argued that he was left out to dry on the markers from Sidney Crosby, a powerplay redirect from Patric Hornqvist off Evgeni Malkin’s point shot, and Bryan Rust’s rebound marker which Noah Hanifin struggled to contain.
But at least two of the three goals he allowed in the second period were ones he probably wanted back.
HAMONIC IN, VALIMAKI OUT, PELUSO SENT DOWN
Bill Peters reminded the media of the simple equation.
“If a guy comes in, another guy has to come out,” said the Calgary Flames head coach.
It doesn’t take a mathematician to understand that if a healthy Travis Hamonic were to be inserted into the lineup on Thursday against the Penguins that one defenceman must sit.
And 20-year-old Juuso Valimaki happened to be the odd man out. And given that it’s his first healthy scratch of what is looking like it will be a long National Hockey League career, it’s not completely detrimental for Valimaki to observe.
“It’s interesting when you’re up there,” Peters pointed out. “I think it’s a very valuable tool. Every guy you talk to says, there’s more time. There’s more plays to be made out there. I have more time than I think … there’s good players you can watch and come back and have good communication with your position coach … there’s more time than they think.”
Valimaki has a goal and is a minus-three in his first nine NHL games which have seen some growing pains but, arguably, the level-headed blueliner hasn’t looked out of place. He’s logged an average of 15:13 per game, primarily skating third pairing minutes with Michael Stone.
But Peters indicated that he’d rather have Valimaki in the lineup, than not but, by no means, does this assignment signal an automatic demotion to the American Hockey League.
“It’s no good to have young guys that don’t play,” Peters said. “If they’re not going to play, they gotta go to the American Hockey League. We’re not in that situation at all yet. He could be in … but we’re a long way away from those conversations (of being sent to the AHL).”
CROSBY GOES VIRAL … AGAIN
Sidney Crosby continues to amaze, most recently in a video called “The Away Game” presented by Tim Hortons in which Kenya’s only hockey team — the Kenya Ice Lions — spends the day playing with the Pittsburgh Penguins captain and Nathan MacKinnon.
The Kenyan team travelled to Canada to play in a game, a huge change from the Ice Lions’ home rink in Nairobi, Kenya, and some pretty decent teammates.
The three minute, 20-second video has been watched close to 1.4-million times on YouTube and, truthfully, Crosby said he didn’t expect it to blow up like it did.
“I’ve been part of different things over the years and that one was up there as far as it being unique and a really cool opportunity,” he said. “You don’t know what to expect going in, necessarily, of what the day is going to look like. But you meet the guys and see how happy they are and excited. Everything about it was really unique and I enjoyed it. I didn’t expect it to be as viral as it has been.
“It brought a lot of attention to hockey there and they seemed excited about that too.”
AROUND THE BOARDS
After being a healthy scratch for the last three games, RW Austin Czarnik drew back into Thursday’s lineup while C Derek Ryan took a seat in the press box. Czarnik focused on the bright side of his sideline assignment. “I think it’s good watching,” he said. “You get to see habits, you know what guys do well and you know what you can do. When you’re sitting up there, you really realize what the team is doing and what they need.” … Doesn’t get any easier for the Flames who host the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals on Saturday … The Flames scratched Valimaki, Ryan, and D Dalton Prout.
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