{"id":214085,"date":"2025-10-15T05:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T05:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/214085\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T05:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T05:27:09","slug":"flames-lack-finishing-touch-again-in-loss-to-golden-knights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/214085\/","title":{"rendered":"Flames lack finishing touch again in loss to Golden Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"

CALGARY \u2013\u00a0Four games in, a troubling pattern has emerged for the Calgary Flames<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They just can\u2019t finish.<\/p>\n

While finishing around the net was the No. 1 concern going into the season, at issue of late has been the team\u2019s inability to finish off opponents.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s 4-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights marked the third straight game in which the Flames finished with a faceplant.<\/p>\n

This disappearing act saw the lads squander a 2-0 first-period lead. The visitors responded by scoring four straight, including three in the final period.<\/p>\n

As part of a three-game skid in which the Flames have led once, trailed once and been tied going into the third period, Calgary has been outscored 9-1 in the final frame.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood teams find a way to win in third period,\u201d said MacKenzie Weegar, whose first-period wizardry set up a Mikael Backlund goal that got the joint jumping early.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to figure out a way to learn from that one. I hate the word concerning, but it’s definitely something to be addressed, and we\u2019ve got to fix that for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Flames were outshot 13-5 in the third, outworked in the corners, and outclassed in the clutch. Jack Eichel led the charge for Vegas, scoring twice and setting the tone for a team that knows how to close. Meanwhile, the Flames looked like a group still trying to figure out how to play with a lead \u2014 or hold onto one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s much similar to the last three,\u201d said head coach Ryan Huska of the implosion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just not playing complete games.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s putting it mildly. In each of their last three outings, the Flames have either surrendered a lead or failed to generate the kind of urgency that defines winning teams. Tuesday\u2019s collapse was particularly painful, given the strong start and the opportunity to make a statement against a perennial contender.<\/p>\n

Blake Coleman, who added to the Flames\u2019 early lead just 12 minutes in, seemed stunned that a group known for thriving in the third period last season keeps being victimized late.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lesson that probably shouldn\u2019t have to be learned with this group,\u201d said Coleman, whose team scored twice on Adin Hill before he was suffered what the team said was a lower-body injury replaced in the second period by Akira Schmid. (yes, place your bets on the Knights inking Carter Hart as early as Wednesday, when he\u2019s eligible to sign with an NHL team.)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, we\u2019ve got guys that have been there and know how to do it and, yeah, this one\u2019s disappointing,” Coleman added.<\/p>\n

Disappointing is one thing. Concerning is another. And while Weegar may hate the word, it\u2019s hard to avoid it when the same issues keep surfacing. Defensive lapses, missed assignments, and a lack of killer instinct have plagued the Flames in crunch time \u2014 a far cry from the identity they hoped to forge under Huska\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

The loss dropped Calgary to 1-3-0 on the season, with just one comeback win in Edmonton to show for four games. The Flames, known for their work ethic and discipline in 2024-25, have yet to piece together a complete 60-minute effort \u2013 the type required to be a playoff team.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shortage of talent in the room. Veterans like Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Rasmus Andersson have the pedigree. Youngsters like Matt Coronato and Connor Zary bring energy and upside. But until the group collectively embraces the grind of third-period hockey, the results will remain the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to fix that for sure,\u201d Weegar repeated, echoing the sentiment of a locker=room that knows the clock is ticking \u2014 not just on games, but on the season\u2019s trajectory.<\/p>\n

Dustin Wolf made 26 saves in the loss, victimized by Eichel for the second time in the game for the winner six minutes into the third. Wolf will finally give way to Devin Cooley on Wednesday when the Flames visit Utah.<\/p>\n

Huberdeau, who skated with the team Tuesday for the first time since being injured in the pre-season, will be on the trip, which will see the Flames visit the Golden Knights on Saturday.<\/p>\n

There are no excuses for not putting in a late shift in Vegas.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CALGARY \u2013\u00a0Four games in, a troubling pattern has emerged for the Calgary Flames. They just can\u2019t finish. While…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-214085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}