Three Takeaways From Flames 8-3 Blowout Loss To Lightning

The magic and passionate play from a recent road win did not carry over to Thursday night, as the Calgary Flames were defeated 8-3 by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Netminder Dan Vladar has his worst outing of the season, while Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri each had points to extend their season-high point streaks.

However, there was no slowing down the Lightning as Nikita Kucherov had six points, Jake Guentzel had a hat trick, and Calgary native Brayden Point had four points.

Let's discuss the Flames' latest defeat, one everyone should forget about by midday on Friday.

Win Some, Lose Some

Before Thursday night's loss to the Lightning, the Flames were 10-3-1 at the Saddledome, one of seven teams with at least ten wins on home ice. Considering Calgary will play 41 home games, no one will go undefeated in front of their fans.

Last year, they were 21-19-1 at the Dome and are already halfway to that total after just 30 games.

Despite their recent strong play at home, miscues and defensive lapses were front and center on Thursday, leading to their most lopsided home loss since the Edmonton Oilers defeated them 8-3 on Feb. 1, 2020.

However, one of the silver linings about their latest setback is that it was one game where you burn the tape and move on.

Vladar Stumbles Without Support

Vladar earned his second consecutive start after backstopping the Flames to a road win against the Nashville Predators. But, there was no magic against the Lightning, who feasted on the Flames' netminder and easily exposed the defensive mishaps.

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They often say that a team's goalie has to be their best penalty killer. Vladar didn't stand a chance against the NHL's reigning scoring champion, Kucherov, plus local star Point, who powered the Lightning to a perfect 3-for-3 on the man advantage.

Unfortunately, Calgary was outmatched against Tampa Bay, one of the league's most complete teams. Vladar's SV% was .692, his worst statistic performance of the season.

Yet, he didn't receive much support from his teammates, who opened up the scoring but sat around and watched the skilled Lightning forwards dominate the final two periods en route to their first win in Southern Alberta since 2018.

The Point Streaks Are Alive, but Wins Are More Important

Huberdeau scored a goal, extending his point streak to six games, a personal best since joining the Flames in 2022. Meanwhile, Kadri scored a goal, a highlight reel one, to extend his point streak to three games.

The big boys scored some points to pad their stats, but a far superior team blew out Calgary—one that capitalized on a Huberdeau turnover, ultimately the game's turning point.

Up 1-0, the Flames forward coughed up the puck to Kucherov at the Lightning blueline, and the Art Ross winner potted a breakaway goal to swipe away all the momentum Calgary had in the first period,

They did rally from 4-1 down in the middle period to make things interesting. Still, things never felt the same after the Huberdeau turnover, and despite some perfectly placed snipes from Kadri and Zary, their goals prevented this game from being a complete embarrassment.

As nice as it is to collect points, collecting wins is more important, and it takes an entire team to win games, not individuals who either miss assignments or take ill-advised penalties.

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