It was an ugly performance and an ugly loss for the Lightning. They played very poorly, and the Flames made them pay.
Jon Cooper stated after the game that “the execution was horrendous, but the decision-making was even worse than that.” He’s right. The Lightning weren’t sharp, with or without the puck.
The Flames didn’t produce many shots on goal (24) or shot attempts (45), but a high volume of the shots they did take were dangerous. The Lightning yielded prime scoring chances, many of which came shortly after defensive-zone turnovers. The Flames cashed in on several of those looks, including three quick goals in succession during the opening 10 minutes of the second period. Those tallies turned a 1-1 game into a 4-1 Calgary lead.
At the other end of the ice, the Lightning failed to generate quality looks themselves. Three of the chances they got ended up in the Calgary net, but there weren’t many others to count.
The Lightning will need to play much better when they host the Flyers on Saturday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Yegor Sharagovich — Flames. Two goals and two assists.
- MacKenzie Weegar — Flames. Two assists.
- Conor Sheary — Lightning. Goal and assist.
