CALGARY, Alberta — One of the shorter road trips — yet one of great importance — began Wednesday night for the Flyers at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Three games and a possible six points were waiting for Dave Hakstol’s club.
Well, the Flyers came up empty in the opener of the trip with a 3-1 loss to the Flames. You can point to their utter futility on the power play as the reason for losing.
They had a five-minute power play early in the game with a two-minute two-man advantage and did nothing with it to break a 1-1 tie.
T.J. Brodie’s goal late in the second period broke the 1-1 tie. After two periods, the Flames had 26 penalty minutes to the Flyers’ seven and still led, 2-1.
The Flyers came into play having won seven consecutive games against teams from Canada.
Ejected
Alex Chiasson early in the game for spearing Nick Cousins long after the whistle. Cousins drew two penalties in that period and also scored the Flyers’ only goal. Cousins had an excellent game as did Jordan Weal (six shots).
Notable goals
Cousins’ goal was his first in 10 games. He blasted Matt Read’s backhand pass over Brian Elliott after Calgary turned the puck over in the crease.
Goalie report
Michal Neuvirth was making his fifth start in six games. He had some big saves on the penalty kill, plus protected the 1-1 tie late in the second period on Johnny Gaudreau’s scoring attempt off the rush.
Elliott played well for the Flames and had an assist on the empty-net goal at the end.
Power play
Pathetic. How else do you describe botching a five-minute advantage, two minutes of which were 5-on-3? The Flames cleared the zone 11 times. Eleven! Two shots on the 5-on-3 portion and only three shots overall. The Flyers were 0 for 4 on the PP.
Penalty kill
Neuvirth had three saves on Sean Monahan during the Flames’ first power play. The Flames were 0 for 2 on the power play.
Injuries
Cousins recovered quickly from the spear.
Fights
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare decisioned Micheal Ferland in a second-period fight.
Scratches
Defensemen Nick Schultz (healthy) and Michael Del Zotto (leg/bone bruise), forwards Travis Konecny (left ankle, knee) and Dale Weise (healthy).
Up next
This is the 14th set of back-to-back games for the Flyers. They will meet Edmonton on Thursday night for the first time in the Oilers’ new arena.