Recap: Calgary Flames (0) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (4)

Calgary Flames 0 Toronto Maple Leafs 4

The Flames rolled into Toronto on a 2 game losing streak and for 19 minutes it looked like the Flames were up for the challenge. Boy, was that assessment wrong.

1st Period

The period was quiet for the most part. Each team had a man up opportunity and came up empty. Calgary's best scoring chance came after Troy Browuer took a slashing penalty and Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik came in on a 2 on 1, but Andersen made a terrific save keeping the game at 0-0. Brian Elliott looked very strong through the 1st and then the final minute came. Mitchell Marner tipped the puck past Brian Elliott and for the 8th straight game the Flames found themselves down 1-0.

2nd Period

The 2nd was mostly uneventful until the Leafs made TWO passes while LYING ON THE ICE to Nazem Kadri and he beat Brian Elliott badly up high on his glove side to extend the Leafs lead to 2-0. The rest of the period really belonged to Johnny Gaudreau and not in a good way. Gaudreau took two massive hits in period, the second appeared to be a head shot by Leo Komarov that sent Gaudreau to the locker room. Komarov took no penalty for the hit and Mark Giordano dropped the gloves and attempted to fight, but fell down before anything could happen. That's the Flames night is a nutshell. Zach Hyman finished the scoring for the period by beating Elliott with a super soft shorthanded goal to put the Leafs up 3-0. Good news for the Flames is Johnny Gaudreau made it back onto the ice before the period ended.

3rd Period

The third went by very quietly and uneventfully until Nazem Kadri scored again and put the Leafs up 4-0. Later in the period Alex Chiasson tried to make up for the hit on Johnny Gaudreau by going at Komarov, but he was only successful in getting a 2 minute minor for roughing and a seat in front of Gultuzan for a few shifts. The Flames would get nothing in the third as the final seconds would tick off the clock in a truly disgusting 4-0 loss to the Leafs in Toronto.

The Flames somehow still have themselves in a playoff spot even though they’ve played horrendous hockey over the last week. The Flames showed no sense of urgency and the fact that no one attempted to deal with the hit on Gaudreau is truly concerning. Calgary has now dropped 3 straight and they head to Montreal for a game with the Canadiens on Monday night. It can’t get worse….right?

by Mark Parkinson