Emotions boil over for Flames following uncharacteristic mistakes vs. Maple Leafs
Tuesday’s loss against the Maple Leafs should serve as a reminder to the Flames of how best to squander their tenuous hold on a playoff spot: Deviate from the plan.
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CALGARY — Late in a second period in which two Calgary Flames breakdowns allowed the high-powered Toronto Maple Leafs to break a close game wide open, Rasmus Andersson skated back to the Flames bench with a message.
Typically saving his death stare for opposing fans, he instead had some very pointed feelings he wanted to share with the forwards who sit a few feet over on his bench.
Nazem Kadri didn’t seem to appreciate the sentiments, prompting him to respond with some frustration of his own, punctuated by the toss of his stick behind him and down the tunnel towards the dressing room.
On a night when a sea of blue and red fans always seem to turn up the temperature, the players clearly weren’t immune to it.
No, this isn’t a column about a rift in the dressing room or things falling apart at the seams as the intensity of a playoff race turns up.
It’s simply addressing a very public, heated exchange between the team’s two most intense competitors, openly hashing out what likely revolved around a pair of obvious mistakes these Flames can’t make.
The source of Andersson’s frustration, no doubt, was a second-consecutive 2-on-1 conversion by the Maple Leafs, who capitalized on a Flames defenceman deep in the offensive zone without a forward covering for them.
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Atypical brain cramps that can’t be made by a low-scoring team that sits tied for the final playoff berth on the power of 2-1 and 3-2 wins.
The Maple Leafs live for run-and-gun hockey, and with the Flames coughing up two offensive zone turnovers with four players in deep, the Maple Leafs quickly turned a 2-2 game into a 6-3 thrashing.
The uncharacteristic mistakes, the loss, the raucous crowd and the pressure of a playoff race all likely helped things boil over between Andersson and Kadri.
“For sure, it’s competitive guys we have on our team,” said MacKenzie Weegar of the exchange for which he had a front row seat.
“We want to win every single night and make the right plays every night.
“Guys don’t necessarily want to go at each other, but there’s that competitive, intense time in the game where guys are fiery and hold each other accountable at times, or they’re pissed at themselves.
“Then there’s guys who pick each other up at those times.
“We’re a competitive group, and we’re fighting for a playoff spot, and you could kind of sense it tonight.”
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Asked if the heated exchange was hashed out in the second intermission, Weegar concurred.
“Absolutely, we love each other in this room,” said Weegar.
“You come back into the room and you talk it out, and have a laugh, or you just say, ‘forget about it, we’ll get it back.’
“It usually doesn’t last long with this group.”
There’s no disputing the fact the Flames are a tight bunch who adhere to a standard set by veterans and a coach who is building a culture conducive to success.
He’s not concerned about the exchange.
“No, that happens every game,” shrugged Ryan Huska.
“Players argue with each other back and forth, they sort it out, and they come to a conclusion and they move on.
“That’s one thing I love about our team, is when it does happen they shift gears right away. So, not an issue at all. It happens pretty much every game.”
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What doesn’t happen every game is seeing this defensive-minded group decide to open things up.
“If you were to sum our game up in a short phrase, I thought we forced offence, and we got ourselves into trouble because of that,” said Huska.
“Their last three goals before the empty netter were all the result of us forcing offence, which is something we typically don’t do. And against a team that’s got skilled forwards like they do you can’t play that game.”
Sure can’t.
“I wouldn’t say the defence, but all five guys connected maybe got a little loose throughout the game,” said Weegar.
“It felt like at any moment in the second period there could be a 3-on-2, or 2-on-1 at some point.”
“When (the opposition) gets loose like that or want to play a run-and-gun game we have to stay to our identity.
“Our identity is to stay on top of guys, be a good check, defend the right way. I thought we didn’t stay composed at that time and tried to do too much and force a few plays that I don’t think were there.”
To be fair, the evening was filled with anomalies.
Each team had a first period goal disallowed due to video review, the Flames scored twice while on 5-on-3 man advantages, and the Flames opted not to challenge for goalie interference on the Maple Leafs’ fifth goal despite a Max Domi hook around Dustin Wolf’s neck. (Huska explained Wolf was already too far out of position to regroup for a possible save when Mathew Knies tapped it in.)
This was a loss that should serve as a powerful reminder to the Flames of how best to squander their tenuous hold on a playoff spot: Deviate from the plan.
That message seemed loud and clear, no matter how and to whom it was delivered.
