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The Calgary Flames played San Jose in the latter half of a back-to-back on Tuesday night and, well, it didn't go as well as it did Monday night in Arizona.
Calgary played a pretty good 1st period and had no problem keeping up with the Sharks. The wheels fell off in the 2nd, though, and that proved too much to overcome.
A few notes:
1) The Flames were pretty good defensively against Arizona but their leaky early season form reared its ugly head again last night. Particularly in the 2nd period, the Flames made some bad pinches, turned pucks over, etc. and gave up quite a few odd man rushes. Part of it is playing in a back-to-back, part of it is playing a good team, and part of it is simply on them. The Flames won't win many games making so many defensive mistakes. They have a couple days off here to patch things up, recharge and get ready for Vancouver. There's no reason to panic.
2) The more I watch T.J. Brodie and Dennis Wideman play together, the more I settle on the opinion that it's just not going to work. I waited a while and gave them an adjustment period but, on many nights, they don't look any better now as a pairing than they did a month ago. I'm not sure if it's because Brodie is better on his off-side -- I think he is -- or because Wideman is playing over his head (perhaps both).
Brodie and Wideman control 46% of the shot attempts and 25%(!!) of the 5v5 goals when on the ice together. Don't keep trotting them out there and waste Brodie. He hasn't been himself this season, but I think bouncing around on different pairings and Wideman being his most frequent partner is one reason why.
Here's what I would do: recall Brett Kulak (after the roster freeze), play him on the left side and give Brodie the right side. I thought Kulak played pretty well when given a chance early in the season and that those two could complement each other nicely.
3) On many nights the Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik is the Flames' best unit. Last night in San Jose was one of those nights.
They combined to create quite a few scoring chances and spent most of their shifts making things happen in the offensive zone. Unfortunately for the Flames, that line was the only one to do so.
4) The Flames' defense certainly didn't help Chad Johnson's cause, but he once again looked human allowing four goals for the third consecutive game. The loss wasn't all on him by any means, but he allowed some goals he probably wouldn't have two weeks ago.
I think Brian Elliott should get the nod in goal Friday against the Canucks. He played pretty well in Arizona, and Johnson looks like he needs a breather. Give Johnson some time to recharge and, depending on Elliott's performance Friday, he can have the net next Tuesday.
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