Every point matters when it comes to playoff time, and the Calgary Flames have handed away eight of them so far this season in the shootout alone.
Head coach Brent Sutter conceded after Sunday night’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets if he team won half of their shootout games, compared to only three wins out of 11 tries so far this year, the team would be in a different spot.
“We know we need points,” he said. “One point is not going to cut it for us tonight. We need to get to where we are getting two point games.
“At least if you can bat .500, there is three or four points.”
Right now, add those three points to the 81 points they own right now and the Flames would jump up from 11th spot all the way up to seventh, ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Alex Tanguay, Olli Jokinen, Jarome Iginla and Curtis Glencross failed to solve Steve Mason in the shootout, with Cam Atkinson earning the winner for the Blue Jackets.
“I know I sat here after the last shootout and said I would put it in the hands of our goal scorers and you would think that it would be something they were good at,” Sutter said. “Tangs is pretty good at it, Olli’s been good at it too in the past.”
In fact, Alex Tanguay was the best in the league last season, going 10 for 16 in the shootout to lead the league, with four of those goals deciding the game.
This year, it’s a stark contrast for the winger. After trying to go five hole on Steve Mason to open the shootout Sunday night, Tanguay lowered his season total to one goal on eight chances.
“You can always question yourself after it’s done,” Sutter said. “Every person out there can question why you chose this guy or why you chose that guy but at the end of the day, you’re going with your top scorers.
“If you’re a betting man, you’d feel that’s the best way to go.”
