The Calgary Flames headed into central Florida on Thursday evening to visit the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Flames were decent enough, but they made enough mistakes at key times (and were the victim of some difference-making plays by Tampa’s stars) that this game wasn’t all that close on the scoreboard.
The Flames skated to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Lightning.
The rundown
Neither team scored in the opening period. The Lightning and Flames were fairly even early on, but the hosts got their legs moving and gradually took over more and more of play as the period carried on.