Flames deserved better fate after rolling out best effort vs. juggernaut Bruins

CALGARY — Finding a way to lose what might have been the Calgary Flames’ best effort of the season, Nikita Zadorov was quick to point out nobody would feel sorry for them.

Wrong.

“My heart goes out to them, losing this hockey game,” said Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, whose juggernaut squad rode the brilliance of Linus Ullmark to a 4-3 overtime win despite being outshot 57-20.

Indeed, the Flames deserved a better fate.

Give ’em credit, the Calgary Flames are finding creative new ways to break their own hearts.

After Dan Vladar followed a template familiar to the team by allowing the first and fourth shots on goal to beat him, the team made a goalie and a script change in the second period.

Battling back with three straight goals against the league’s best team, the Flames actually had a chance to complete their first third-period comeback win of the season.

Alas, an ill-timed hit by Zadorov took two Flames out of a play the Bruins finished with a tap-in to tie it with five minutes left.

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In overtime, two Flames were caught behind their own net, leading to another easy finish with five seconds left, representing the sharpest dagger to Calgary’s chest to date.

“We’ve been talking about it the whole year — we have 13 overtime losses, it can’t be worse,” said Zadorov, whose frustration showed when asked if the group was still confident.

“I mean, doesn’t matter.

“At this point of the year we’re struggling for our life. We’re still fighting.

“It’s a grown men league. You can’t feel sorry for yourself.

“It doesn’t matter how we are confidence-wise, nobody is going to feel sorry for us.”

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Indeed, the Flames have dug their own grave with a deadly combination of surprisingly horrid goaltending and a consistent inability to bury quality chances like the dozens they had Tuesday.

Tuesday was as dramatic an example of it, with the same old result.

“We’ve got to score goals — what else are we going to say?” said Zadorov, one of just three Flames with only one shot on goal: everyone else has at least two.

“We created enough chances. We had 57 shots. We had two breakaways in overtime.

“We had enough chances to finish the game.

“It sucks to lose those games. Nobody here is happy (with) what’s going on.”

Asked why this team keeps dropping games in which it badly outshoots the opposition, Darryl Sutter’s answer was bang on.

“Tonight would be a bad goal, and not scoring a big goal,” said the coach, who was asked how demoralizing it is to see two soft goals go in, prompting him to pull Vladar after 20 minutes.

“It was frustrating, but I thought our guys handled it pretty well.

“Their freshest player (Ullmark, who was on the bench for Boston’s win in Edmonton a night earlier) played a great game for them.”

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Indeed, this year’s clear Vezina winner stole this one from the hosts.

“Why do we have so many goalies come here and play so well against us?” asked Jonathan Huberdeau, who had one goal bounce in off a defender before passing up a golden chance to shoot in overtime.

“I feel it happens a lot of time.

“Is it us that can’t find the back of the net, or the goalie that’s too good?

“It’s a question we have to ask ourself.”

His overtime opportunity came on a 2-on-1 that had everyone in the Dome anticipating the serial passer would indeed pass.

With Jon Hamm sitting in the owner’s box next to Gary Bettman, even the actor would have suggested Huberdeau skip the dishes, as his pass landed right on the defenceman’s tape.

“Usually I used to be able to make these plays and do a little saucer, but it went right to his stick,” lamented the struggling winger, whose club now sits five points back of tying for the final wild-card berth.

“It’s a bad play. Obviously people are going to say, ‘shoot that.’

“But if I make a little saucer pass he has an open net.

“I could have shot, but it didn’t happen.

“It’s the kind of play that’s not going my way this year.”

Nothing is.

For him, or his team, which hasn’t been more evident this season than it was Tuesday.

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