Calgary Flames looking to regroup after 7-2 loss to the Washington Capitals
What does a National Hockey League team do after suffering a massive loss on home ice?
The Calgary Flames are looking for the answer to that burning question after being routed by the visiting Washington Capitals on Saturday, 30 October.
Although the game began with any significant problems, the Flames completely fell apart in the second period.
Alex Ovechkin and his Capitals team-mates lit up Flames’ starting netminder Miika Kiprusoff with five unanswered goals. Head coach Brent Sutter then pulled Kiprusoff and replaced him with
Henrik Karlsson, who allowed one more goal. Kiprusoff would return in the third period and play for the rest of the game.
“I think it was the first time that happened to me,” Kiprusoff said of the blow-out. “I’ve seen that happen before. Like they say, you always have to be ready.”
Sutter was quick to defend his starter, stating that he would be instrumental if the Flames wanted to get back in the game.
“I just thought it was important for Kipper to go back in and be part of what we need to want to get our game back,” explained Sutter.
“It got away from us in the second period; we wanted to get our focus back to what we are and how we need to play.”
The goalie doesn’t deserve all of the blame for the Flames’ flame-out. The team’s defence corps have also been having problems lately, as they have been very close to invisible in some
games. So far, they have given up 17 goals, which is a rather disappointing statistic by any means.
Having lost two games in a row, the Flames are currently sitting on top of ninth place in the Western Conference. Despite the string of losses, Sutter believes the team’s confidence level
has not diminished.
“I don’t like to think it’s a confidence thing because it’s very blatant what happened,” Sutter said. “They’re pretty smart guys. It had nothing to do with confidence; it was strictly
due to keeping our focus on what we have to.”
Calgary will have a chance to get back into the wins column when they host the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday, 3 November.
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