'WAKE-UP CALL'

Let's just say Mike Smith wasn't eagerly surfing the sports channels at home as the Thursday midnight witching hour approached.
"Highlights?" said the feisty Flames goaltender. "What highlights were there from last night?
"I usually watch every goal. That was one game where I didn't look at anything.
"I don't think anyone can be very proud of what happened.
"An embarrassment as far as I'm concerned. And I think everyone realizes that.
"But it's over. When stuff doesn't go your way, you've gotta work and work and work, have a good attitude and try to be better."

Sifting through the debris field of Thursday's 9-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguin at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the Flames were left no choice but to take stock.
Ugly? Yes. Painful? Definitely. Unacceptable. Undeniably.
But, pointed out Smith, not close to being too far along in the process to banish the in-game gremlins and get their current ills sorted out.
"What day are we today?" he asked the media following Friday's practice.
Um, Oct. 26th?
"Yeah," he replied, nodding. "Pretty early still. I think if you get your panties in a knot too early here, start pouting and feeling sorry for yourself, it's going to be a really long year."
In truth, scanning back only a few days, a pending pistol-whipping had been in the cards. During the just-completed 1-1 eastern road swing, David Rittich had performed an eerily uncanny Mikka Kiprusoff/Maytag Repairman impersonation, wallpapering, plugging and generally plugging a litany many of cracks and leaks that sprung in Calgary defensive games at both MSG and then the Bell Center.
Thursday, a ruthlessly clinical, high-octane Penguins team provided a sobering dose of clarity.
"Yes, I think there's some reality after last night,'' said boss Bill Peters. "The first two games on that trip were masked by goaltending and then last night they finished on their opportunities so we were totally exposed.
"But it could've been either one of those previous games."
So regroup and start again from Ground Zero.
"Obviously we got away with one in New York,'' agreed defenceman Rasmus Andersson. "So we go into Montreal, take two or three dumb penalties, fall behind 3-1 and, well, it's tough to bounce back in this league.
"Then yesterday … we dig ourselves a hole, start pinching, don't have a third-guy high and give up a lot of scoring chances. Against a team with that kind of firepower … There's a reason they won back-to-back Stanley Cups and why Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and those guys are among the best players in the world.
"They just started feeling good, that's how they want to play, and we fell into their trap."
Friday, Peters kept the fireworks stored in the shed. No traditional bag-skate. No theatrics. No thunderous shrieks reverberating around the upper reaches of a deserted Scotiabank Saddledome.
No need, in his mind.
"It was a wake-up call," said winger Michael Frolik. "A big wake-up call. Those games do happen sometimes but that doesn't make it any less embarrassing.
"I remember while I was with Chicago, being beaten 8-1 or something like that in Edmonton. And we had a good team in Chicago then. Sam Gagner must've had eight points.
"It sucks.
"It feels terrible.
"But we can't just talk about it, say the right things. What matters is that now we've got to go out and do the right things."
Smith, who was dinged for six goals on 21 shots before giving way to Rittich, is looking for a collective bounce-back.
"It's easy to point fingers. It's easy to blame someone else. But at times like these - I've been through it before - you've got to look at yourself in the mirror and battle.
"If you just looked at my numbers, which a lot of people do, you'd say I've had an awful year.
"It hasn't felt like that. Obviously there's been a lot of goals scored but you can't control some things that happen in front of you.
"To blame guys would be an easy thing to do, an easy out. The harder thing is to go work hard and climb out of this thing."
Peters, who predictably threw his lines in a blender during Friday's skate, didn't hesitate in naming a starting puck-stopper against the Caps for today's 2 p.m. matinee (
click here for tickets
).
"Once we start playing a little bit better … not a little bit better, quite a bit better, away from the puck, as a group, as a unit of five, we can talk about our goaltending,'' he declared.
"We're going right back to Smitty tomorrow and give our guys a chance to redeem themselves for that effort last night."
Redemption, of course, will be far from a simple matter. Not facing Alex The Gr8 and Co.
But if the high-falutin' quality of opposition isn't ample motivation …
"It sticks with you for a little while,'' said Peters. "But you've gotta move on. We play an afternoon game tomorrow and we've got to show people what we're really made of.
"I think everyone has a different level of hatred to lose.
"Obviously we'll learn a little bit more about our group tomorrow.
"Actually, quite a lot.
"And we'll go from there."