Lucic Calls Out Flames’ Players for Embarrassing Loss to Senators

No one can argue that the Calgary Flames, even though they “only” took three points of a possible four against the Toronto Maple Leafs, didn’t bring home a positive story line from the capital of Ontario. 

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The Flames won their first game against the Maple Leafs by a 3-0 score. Then they pushed the North Division-leading Maple Leafs to the very last minute and a half of regulation and into overtime before the Maple Leafs miraculously escaped with a victory when William Nylander scored two goals within the span of three minutes of ice time.

Where Is the Positive Attitude that Should Have Been Built?

As a Flames’ fan, you might have thought that the two games in Toronto would generate a positive attitude for the Flames moving forward. Sadly, you would have been wrong. The Flames simply failed to show up during Thursday night’s game against the team with the worst record in the North Division – the Ottawa Senators. By the time the game was over, the Senators had laid a beating on the Flames by a 6-1 score.

Lucic Is Clear Whose Fault the Loss Was

Later, when speaking to the media after the game, clearly it had occurred to Milan Lucic that, in Montreal over the past couple of days, the Canadiens fired head coach Claude Julien. Lucic, it seemed, was clarifying to the world that in his mind the Flames’ loss had nothing to do with the coaching staff. 

Lucic said it clearly: the Flames loss “is on the players.” No one else can be blamed for that. Lucic then spoke further about the Flames needing to take responsibility for the rough loss.

Where’s the Flames Offense? 

If there were any positive feelings travelling with the team back from central Canada, those were lost pretty quickly. A 6-1 loss to a last-placed team can do that. The Flames now have won just once in regulation over their last eight games. Perhaps more telling, it also was the third game of the last six where the starting goalie was pulled.

Part of the Flame’s problem is that the team simply can’t generate sufficient offense. Over the past six games, the Flames have scored only eight goals. Furthermore, in five of those six games, they’ve only scored only a single goal. 

The team seems to commit too many turnovers in neutral ice to generate success. As head coach Geoff Ward admits, “The last little bit we’ve been having trouble getting into the offensive zone – that’s certainly going to be a factor.” 

Then, Ward further suggests that, even when the team gets into the offensive zone,  it can’t hit the net. Ward added, “We missed the net an awful lot. That’s not the only night that has happened.”

Goalie David Rittich Comes Back to Earth with a Bang

One of the positives during the Flames play and Toronto had been the play of goalie David Rittich. It looked as if, after Rittich had stopped 70 shots in a row against the Maple Leafs before he let one in, that he’d found his mojo.

It’s hard to know when the team plays so poorly in front of the goalie. To that point, Lucic suggested, “We’ve got to be better. This one definitely is not a good feeling right now.”

Were the Flames a Tired Team?

Perhaps the Flames were simply a tired team. They had, after all, played their fifth game in seven nights. Or, perhaps  the team was simply emotionally drained after such a difficult ending in Toronto. Losing that way we’ll take the steam out of any NHL team. 

The Flames had no steam, didn’t show any fight, or seem to have anything in their tank. As a result, after what’s happened in Montreal, there’s a chance there will be some noise about firing the Flames’ coach, too. You’ve got to think that Lucic was thinking about that when he spoke after the game. 

He pointed fingers, and he didn’t point them at the coach. Instead, he was clear: “This one is on us, it’s on the players.” 

For fans who might not know their history, Lucic and Ward have worked together a long time. Both were with the Boston Bruins several seasons ago when Lucic was a strong power forward and Ward was an assistant coach.

The Coach Hasn’t Changed Since Last Year’s Success

As Lucic noted, “The coaching staff hasn’t changed from last year and that was one of our strong points and when we started to move in the right direction, playing as a five man unit and for each other and sacrificing for each other. We need to find that again. That’s up to the players and no one else.”

For Lucic, It Isn’t the X’s and O’s

Lucic intimated that, if the players were going to experience success during the 2020-21 season, it would be because they began to play together “one for each other.” Lucic believed the team needed to become “a five-man unit on the ice playing for each other and sacrificing for each other.” 

That’s the goal, and Lucic notes the team has to reach that point again. How are they going to do it?  As Lucic tells us, that’s entirely up to the players and no one else.

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