Against seemingly all odds, the Calgary Flames remain undefeated in regulation through the first six games of the 2024-25 season. Their record now sits at 5-0-1 following a shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. Nobody seems to quite understand how this is happening, but it’s been a treat to watch.
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The Flames appeared to be on the brink of their first regulation loss on Tuesday, trailing the Penguins 3-2 late in the third. Nazem Kadri had other ideas, however, scoring with just over 40 seconds remaining. His team went on to win in a shootout. With that said, while the late tying goal and eventual win may be good for morale, this latest game versus the Pens may be the start of the Flames coming back down to life.
Flames Heavily Outplayed by Penguins
The Flames came out flying to start Tuesday’s game, appearing like the far superior of the two teams. The issue is that it only lasted for roughly the first 10 minutes. Things then evened out for the remainder of the first, before the Penguins completely dominated play in periods two and three. By the time the final horn sounded ahead of the shootout, the Pens had a 38-25 lead in shots.
The shots may not sound that lopsided and it’s relatively familiar to see similar numbers for both sides in an NHL game. What made it concerning, however, was that 12 of those shots for the Flames came in the first period. They went on to muster up just six in the second frame and seven in the third. They were held without a shot entirely in overtime.
It wasn’t just the shooting discrepancy that demonstrated how badly they were outplayed, either. The Flames, who entered the game with one of the NHL’s better power plays, went 0-4 against the Penguins. Had they been generating chances, this wouldn’t be of concern, but they were unable to generate any sort of zone time and gave up a number of high-quality chances against while up a man.
Penguins a Below-Average Team
Had this performance come against one of the NHL’s top contenders, it wouldn’t be anything to bat an eye over. Even the biggest of Flames supporters are aware that despite this hot start, their team is not a top club at this time. With that said, some were hoping that given the start they may wind up being a playoff-calibre squad.
Instead, however, the struggles came against an aging Penguins team that has missed the playoffs in each of their past two seasons. It isn’t as if they’ve turned back the clock in 2024-25, either, as they sit at 3-4-1 on the season. From how they carried the play on Tuesday, you would have thought they were one of the top teams in the NHL.
Flames May Be Coming Back Down to Earth
Before the season began, many analysts had the Flames pegged as a bottom-five team in the NHL. They certainly haven’t looked like that for the majority of the season, but Tuesday night’s game gave some indication that perhaps this amazing start is about to run its course.
While seeing this many wins early on has been exciting for the fan base, it’s important to remember that the main goal heading into this season was to secure a high draft pick. If they instead shock the world and make the playoffs, that will be great. What fans need to be sure to remember, however, is that if they wind up struggling in the near future, that isn’t an issue either.
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This team will have their opportunity to be competing for Stanley Cups, but that time isn’t yet, and Tuesday’s game proved just that. Perhaps they’ll come out harder tonight versus the Carolina Hurricanes, but if the struggles in terms of puck possession continue, it will be even more evident that their great stretch to start the season is over.
