Calgary Flames

After the morning skate, Flames coach Brent Sutter nearly went ballistic when a media member asked whether he questions his team's passion.

After a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks, Sutter had some major questions of his own.

"At some point, as individuals, they've got to want to take it. They've got to want to take it and say, 'Let's take it and start holding ourselves accountable. Let's start being accountable to one another. Let's start getting a little upset at each other. When guys aren't playing well, let's start pushing them.'" Sutter said.

"Personally, I don't like that it's too casual. I'm not used to it, to be quite honest. I'm not used to a casual atmosphere. There needs to be a lot more emotion throughout, on a consistent basis, to want to succeed.

"Get upset about stuff. Don't just take it in stride like, 'Oh, there's another day tomorrow.'"

The Flames sit at 12-6-2 but aren't playing up to their standards and are way too inconsistent for the coach's liking.

Rest assured, he'll be harping on them more when they start a two-game road swing in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The Flames play eight of their next nine games on the road. They'd better show some passion on a nightly basis, or they're going to be back with the pack before they know it.

BLACKHAWKS 7, FLAMES 1: Early in the second period, it was a 2-1 game and Jay Bouwmeester had a golden chance to draw the Flames even. Cristobal Huet made a diving stop for the Blackhawks, and soon after Dustin Byfuglien scored on a 2-on-1. It opened the floodgates.

Chicago went on to blast the Flames. The Blackhawks have won the teams' last six meetings plus the first-round playoff series last season.

• The Flames' penalty killing was looking fine a week ago. But the Blackhawks torched it four times. "The last few games, too many breakdowns, not getting pucks out, giving up great chances. That's why we lost the game," said defenseman Robyn Regehr.

• The Flames surrendered a season-worst seven goals. Last time the Flames played Chicago, they allowed six goals.

Quote To Note:

"This past road trip, we showed what type of team it is, but it's a lack of that strength. It has nothing to do with physical conditioning. It's mental. It's staying with it and dealing with adversity and how to handle it in games. I've said this all along, this game is 90 percent mental, and this team has a lot of work to do on that part of it."

Goaltenders:

Miikka Kiprusoff, Curtis McElhinney.

Defensemen:

Robyn Regehr, Dion Phaneuf, Jay Bouwmeester, Cory Sarich, Mark Giordano, Adam Pardy.

First Line:

Curtis Glencross, Olli Jokinen, Jarome Iginla.

Second Line:

Nigel Dawes, Daymond Langkow, Rene Bourque.

Third Line:

Eric Nystrom, Dustin Boyd, David Moss.

Fourth Line:

Fredrik Sjostrom, Craig Conroy, Brian McGrattan.

Player Notes:

• LW Brandon Prust was scratched in favor of RW Brian McGrattan. It was a case of switching up the tough guys, although Prust is more effective as a skater.

• D Aaron Johnson was scratched for the 10th straight game.

• LW Rene Bourque, the team's leading point scorer, took a hard hit from Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson early in the second period. Bourque, who has 21 points this season, had a brief shift in the third period, but left with an undisclosed injury.

• C Olli Jokinen scored for just the third time this season. Jokinen ripped a top-corner shot and was probably the Flames' best player. He had seven shots on goal and had another couple blocked.