Flames eliminated due to top line's lack of production, Markstrom's woes

The Calgary Flames were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers when they lost 5-4 in overtime in Game 5 of the best-of-7 Western Conference Second Round on Thursday.

Calgary (50-21-11) finished first in the Pacific Division for the first time since 2019, and its 111 points were second in Flames/Atlanta Flames history behind the 117 points the Flames had in 1988-89, the season they won the Stanley Cup.
The Flames defeated the Dallas Stars in seven games in the first round to advance to the second round for the first time since 2015 but failed to reach the Western Conference Final for the first time since making it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004.
"Right now it's just all disappointment, frustration, upset," forward Mikael Backlund said. "We had a great team, a great group of guys. Proud of all the guys and would go to war with all the guys again. It just didn't finish the way we wanted."

The skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents: Ryan Carpenter, F; Johnny Gaudreau, F; Erik Gudbranson, D; Calle Jarnkrok, F; Trevor Lewis, F; Brett Ritchie, F; Michael Stone, D; Nikita Zadorov, D
Potential restricted free agents: Oliver Kylington, F; Andrew Mangiapane, F; Matthew Tkachuk, F
Potential 2022 Draft picks:3
Here are five reasons the Flames were eliminated:

1. Couldn't slow Edmonton's best players

The Oilers had two of the top four scorers in the NHL in the regular season, and they played at that level against the Flames. Leon Draisaitl, who was fourth with 110 points (55 goals, 55 assists), had 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) in five games, the
third-most points in a single playoff series
behind Rick Middleton (19 points, 1983 Adams Division Final) and Wayne Gretzky (18 points, 1985 Campbell Conference Final).
Connor McDavid, who led the NHL with 123 points (44 goals, 79 assists) in 80 games, scored the series-clinching overtime goal in Game 5 and had 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in the series.
"The best player won the series for them," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said.

2. Flames' top players weren't their best players

No line played together more in the regular season than the Flames' Gaudreau (40 goals, 115 points), Tkachuk (42 goals, 104 points) and Elias Lindholm (42 goals, 82 points). Each set an NHL career high in goals and points.
Against the Oilers, they combined for 14 points (six goals, eight assists).
"Missed opportunities," Sutter said. "It's not being critical, that's just true. They're going to tell you that too. Missed opportunities go the other way."

3. Lost their killer instinct

The Flames were one of the best teams in the regular season at maintaining in-game momentum, but they struggled with the lead in the series. The Flames scored the game's first goal an NHL-high 54 times during the regular season and went 39-10-5. They scored the first goal three times against the Oilers but went 1-2.
Calgary blew two four-goal leads before winning 9-6 in Game 1, then let two-goal leads evaporate in losses in Games 2 and 5.
"They just made plays in key moments of games and we didn't," Flames forward Blake Coleman said. "You look at a lot of the games, they were tight in the third and we just couldn't come up with that big play to put us over the hump in the last couple of games. It's such a small margin of error at this time of year, and that's part of the learning curve and the growth is learning how to win tight games and being a really difficult team in important situations."

4. Markstrom's struggles

Jacob Markstrom, a finalist in the voting for the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL, had a 5.12 goals-against average and .852 save percentage in five games in the series, allowing at least four goals in all five games.
Markstrom went 37-15-9 with a 2.22 GAA, .922 save percentage and NHL-best nine shutouts in 63 games during the regular season, and had a 1.53 GAA and .943 save percentage in seven games against the Stars in the first round.
"He had a hell of a year," Sutter said. "He's one of our captains, one of our leaders. The team won 55 games and how many did he win? Most of them."

5. Tanev's absence

Defenseman Chris Tanev missed the first three games of the series because of undisclosed injury sustained during Game 6 of the first round. He played in Games 4 and 5 against the Oilers, but his absence showed just how much the Flames missed their best defensive defenseman.
Tanev played an average of 20:46 in the final two games of the series and was plus-3, tied with Oliver Kylington for best among Calgary defensemen in the series.
"He's such a big part of our team and has been a huge part of our team on and off the ice," Tkachuk said prior to Game 5.