Article content material
The Calgary Flames want one other Yegor Sharangovich.
Or possibly two.
Article content material
Not simply because Sharangovich was an offensive standout once more Thursday in Minnesota, the place he prolonged his goal-scoring spree to 4 straight video games, added an help and grazed the put up on one other golden alternative.
As a result of ‘Sharky,’ as teammates have been calling him, stays the one Flames participant to attain in a shootout this season.
Commercial 2
Article content material
Yeah, actually.
Sharangovich is 3-for-4. His buddies are a mixed 0-for-12.
Oof.
The Flames wound up on the flawed aspect of the talents competitors Thursday at Xcel Power Centre, wrapping a winless road-trip with a 3-2 shootout setback to the host Minnesota Wild. They misplaced each which approach on this three-game getaway — in regulation in Colorado, in time beyond regulation in Vegas and on breakaways in St. Paul.
“I believed we have been the higher workforce and we deserved these two factors,” groaned Flames netminder Dan Vladar after a 30-save exhibiting. “The shootout, it’s like a lottery proper?”
In that case, the Flames received’t be a consider Friday’s Lotto Max draw. They shouldn’t hassle shopping for tickets.
At 0-4, they’ve been the NHL’s worst shootout squad to date this season. Even after Vladar’s holy-smokes scorpion save on Frederick Gaudreau, they couldn’t buck that pattern Thursday.
Sharangovich hit lead-off and scored on a glove-side sizzler, however then Elias Lindholm fired excessive of the online and each Jonathan Huberdeau — with a chance to erase the sting of an terrible giveaway that gifted the Wild their opening purpose — and Nazem Kadri have been stopped by Filip Gustavsson.
Midday Information Roundup
Article content material
Commercial 3
Article content material
Matt Boldy’s top-shelf snipe within the fourth spherical was in the end the distinction.
“That’s a troublesome one, to lose in a shootout,” stated Flames captain Mikael Backlund throughout a post-game interview on Sportsnet 960 The Fan. “We actually wanted this sport to shut out the journey.”
In that case, they actually one other breakaway ace.
As a result of right here’s the factor in regards to the shootout — one purpose usually isn’t going to get it carried out.
Whereas Sharangovich has been dynamite when it will get all the way down to dangles, Huberdeau has been skunked on 4 makes an attempt this season, Kadri has failed on three and rookie Connor Zary has been twice turned away. Lindholm, Rasmus Andersson and Dillon Dube are every 0-for-1.
That’s why Sharangovich, regardless of sprucing off a candy feed from Lindholm for his fifth purpose in a four-game span, was left attempting to shoulder a number of the blame for Thursday’s bummer, referring to a few near-misses as he advised reporters at Xcel Power Middle: “I ought to rating on these possibilities.” The red-hot winger is now tops on the workforce with 10 tallies this season, so level your finger elsewhere.
That’s why Vladar, regardless of a terrific save of Ryan Hartman close to the top of regulation and that jaw-dropper on Gaudreau throughout the one-on-one showdowns, wasn’t rewarded with a victory. With only one win to indicate for his previous 5 begins, he vowed to Flames TV: “I simply have to stick with it, simply preserve doing the identical issues, and hopefully the outcomes are going to return for me.”
Commercial 4
Article content material
That’s why, regardless of profitable the special-teams battle with a man-advantage marker by Sharangovich and a shortie from Blake Coleman, the Flames left Minnesota with half the factors they have been hoping for.
They’ve dropped 4 in a row, with an 0-2-2 file over that span, as they head residence for Saturday’s tilt with the Tampa Bay Lightning on the Saddledome (8 p.m. MT, Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 The Fan).
“This was sport, in all probability for each side, I’d say,” stated Flames coach Ryan Huska in his post-game presser in Minnesota. “I believed we had a sluggish first 10 minutes, however then I actually favored our sport from that time ahead. I felt like we deserved the additional level tonight.”
“One other sport that would have gone both approach,” Coleman echoed. “We knew it was going to be a type of 2-1 or 1-0, low-scoring, tight-checking street video games. And that’s what it was.
“Win that shootout and we’re all feeling a bit completely different proper now.”
Article content material