“To play this game, you have to be confident,” Tanguay said. “None of us want the puck on our stick right now.”
Shut out in two of three games this young season, incredibly, we’re already approaching critical mass in Calgary. The lines have been busted up before any of the Big 3 mustered their first point of the season, and the power-play is brought to you by Dr. Seuss, just 1-for-13 so far.
“We’re just uptight,” said Tanguay of the scoreless trio, alongside Jokinen and Jarome Iginla. “We don’t want to make plays, don’t want to make a mistake. Certainly, that first goal is wearing on us.”
The lack of fire from the Flames is evident in watching them play. The get-up-and-go isn’t there and while they outshot the Panthers tonight 27-18, they lost 3-0. While the wildly underrated Tomas Vokoun has a lot to do with that, the truth of the matter is Calgary was outworked all game long by a hungry Panthers squad. Are these horrible puns doing anything for you?
What needs to change in Calgary is simple, they need to find their groove. Scoring some goals will help that and getting everyone back in the lineup would do wonders as well. Until those things happen, the trend towards ugly play may continue to roll along. The Flames need something to get them going and Jarome Iginla can’t do it all by himself. Lord knows he’s already doing enough of that already.