As if things weren't so bad for Calgary Flames The club has recently been considering bringing in a top striker this season. Blake Colemanwounded.
Coleman missed most of the second half of Boston's 4-1 loss, scoring just 9:55 into the night when he left the game twice.
The injury may have occurred in the final seconds of the first period when Bruins defenseman Mason Lorey, 6-foot-5, 218 pounds, pinned him to the ice and placed him on his right shoulder after an exchange of blows.
“I think he's probably just a little sick and that's not what we wanted at the time,” Ryan Huska said, downplaying a situation that could just be a precaution.
Nicknamed the “Texas Tiger” by his father during his father's annual road trip several years ago, Coleman is one of the toughest men in the game, battling endless ailments to become one of the Flames' toughest, hardest workers.
A 200-footer who is having another stellar season, crushing opponent Mikael Backlund, Coleman is also at a scoring pace that could jeopardize his career high of 30 goals, achieved two years ago.
After leading the charge as the Flames won nine of 12 games in December to return to the playoffs, teams around the league inquired about the possibility of acquiring the 34-year-old via trade.
This comes as no surprise as the two-time Stanley Cup winner has one year left on his contract and is an exemplary leader on and off the ice who would be an ideal addition to any contending team. A first-round pick in exchange for him would be the starting point for any deal the Flames might make.
If he goes down for any length of time, the Flames' rapidly declining playoff hopes will take another blow, as will the team's chances of cashing in on him through a trade.
Yes, this is really starting to feel like the beginning of the end of the Flames' last lost season.
Yes, we said that in the first month when they lost eight in a row.
But after getting back to .500 in December with a tough home schedule, the Flames are threatening to wipe it all out with a losing skid that has now reached four games.
Arriving at the hotel at 3am on Thursday, the Flames' biggest obstacle, other than fatigue, was a red-hot Joonas Korpisalo. The Bruins goaltender made several big stops at key moments Thursday night.
In their latest quartet of losses, the Flames are now outscored by a 17-5 margin as goal scoring continues to be their biggest problem.
During that time, the team with the worst power play in the league did not score a single power play goal.
The situation threatens to get worse as the Flames still have three games left on a five-game trip east, including an afternoon game in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
We don't need to remind anyone that this is the league's worst road team, with a 6-15-2 record away from the Dome.
Pressing relentlessly all night despite playing less than 24 hours earlier in Montreal, the Flames allowed two goals in each of the first two periods and were unable to put away Korpisalo, save for a slick snipe by Connor Zary late in the second period that narrowed the lead to 4-1.
“Tough trip, late, guys battled but couldn't find a way to bury a couple more,” said Dustin Wolf, forced to play his third game in four nights and eighth straight, largely because backup Devin Cooley was sick.
Wolf currently leads the league with 35 games played.
“It's not ideal,” Huska said of his goalie's recent workload.
“We’re not going to play him three out of four, but sometimes situations come up and I think he handled himself very well.”
Simply put, he was the Flames' best player.
The Flames are once again much closer to last place in the NHL than they are to last wild card.
The upside, as most Team Tank supporters know, is that with each loss, management gains a clearer picture of how best to proceed in the long term.
However, without Coleman as a possible trade chip, even that task becomes more difficult.
The Flames announced Thursday that Zane Parekh suffered an upper-body injury, so he watched from the press box with Braden Pachal.
Justin Kirkland returned to the game, replacing William Stromgren, whose NHL debut the night before in Montreal allowed him to play just eight minutes.
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