CAT SCRATCHED

To a man, the Flames knew the team's game had "slipped" over the past few.
So, in the aftermath of a 6-3 loss the other night, Mark Giordano made it known that a three-game skid - like one the Flames entered the night with in sunny south Florida - was unacceptable.
A declaration, of sorts, promising better efforts (and results) in the back half of a season-long junket.
"We'll be ready," the skipper professed.
"We'll be a way more focused group."
Better, they were - and by a fairly wide margin.
But it wasn't enough, despite outshooting their opponents 43-32.
The Flames rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to force overtime, but after a thrilling 3-on-3 session that ultimately solved nothing, they were unable to grab the extra point in the shootout, falling 3-2 on Thursday at BB&T Center.

The skid now stretches to four.
"I thought the response was real good," said head coach Bill Peters. "I thought we had a dominant third period and didn't give up much. Their goal was off a faceoff and I don't know how many shots we ended up with. We drew some penalties, which means you have the puck, you're going to the net and making them haul you down or do things that create powerplay opportunities."

Mark Jankowski and Elias Lindholm had third-period goals and Mike Smith - who had a magnificent overtime period - made 30 saves in defeat.
With the shootout loss, the Flames (34-16-7) earn a valuable single point and are back into tie for first place in the Pacific with the San Jose Sharks.
"That's how it's going to be from here on out," Smith said. "It's going to be harder and we have to understand that.
"We had a good talk after last game and realized that we can't play like we did against Tampa and expect to be in any hockey games or win any hockey games. I thought the effort was there; the compete level was there; the battle level was there. There were a lot of good things about that game, but unfortunately we came up a bit short at the end.
"We did a lot of good things at the end and if we keep playing like that, we'll be rewarded."
Lindholm brought the game back on even terms with only 2:24 to play after Mike Hoffman gave the Cats a late lead, redirecting a Rasmus Andersson missile from the right point cleanly past James Reimer to score his 25th of the year and send the game to OT.

The Flames were all over the Panthers in the third, outshooting them 15-5.
"We haven't played to our potential, but tonight we could have easily grabbed the two points," offered Matthew Tkachuk, who finished the night with three of the Flames' 43 tries.
Every player on the team recorded at least a shot on goal, with Johnny Gaudreau (six), Michael Frolik (five) and Giordano (four) leading the way.
Scoreless through the game's opening 40 minutes, the Flames finally potted the equalizer at 6:51. Noah Hanifin made a great rush up the ice before dishing off to Jankowski, who rifled a shot bar-down from just inside the left circle to score his 10th of the year.

Smith picked up the secondary assist with a great play on the breakout, passing off to Hanifin and preventing Derick Brassard from disrupting the forecheck.
The veteran then shone in OT, stopping five Florida shots, including a pair of acrobatic denials with the blocker.

"I felt good," Smith said. "I felt like I was back (to having) that swagger and the compete level that I needed to be at. It hasn't been there for stints this year, but I felt like tonight, it was time to wake up, smell the coffee and get after it.
"I played loose and free and tried to make the big saves there."
Smith is now 14-11-2 on the year.
The Panthers drew first blood at 15:17 of the second period, as coach and former Flames defenceman Bob Boughner double-shifted his top line. The back-pedalling Mark Pysyk walked the blueline and fired a shot through traffic that hit Evgenii Dadonov en route, beating Smith short side.
The Flames had a pair of 10-bell chances to even the score late, but Reimer stood tall. First, Matthew Tkachuk fed Michael Frolik on a 2-on-1, but the one-time attempt was cut off with a magnificent positional save.
Moments later, Sean Monahan split the D and worked his way in alone after getting pretty feed from Johnny Gaudreau, but the result was all too similar.
Reimer was dialled in.
"The results aren't there, but tonight was a lot better," Smith said. "You could tell guys were engaged in the game, guys were winning battles, and you notice it when you play like that.
"We had a lot of good looks. They're just not going in as easily as they were at the start of the season and that's the way it's going to be from here on out. We've got to get used to playing in close games and not get too frustrated with a couple losses here."
ONE-TIMERS
James Neal left the game early in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return. The 31-year-old appeared to suffer the injury after an innocent-looking collision with Jayce Hawryluk, causing him to peel back and head straight down the tunnel.
Peters did not have an update available after the game.