Flames' Sutter sour with officials following another costly parade of penalties

TORONTO — Darryl Sutter insists he’s seen this act before.

Even if it was 35 years ago.

“Well, that’s one thing I learned a long time ago, when you’re in Chicago all those years: When you come into Toronto you know what goes on,” said Sutter, while smacking his palm on the table.

“I won’t say nothing more.”

The coach’s suggestion was that a few of the six power plays the Flames handed the Leafs in Saturday’s 5-4 overtime loss weren’t necessarily warranted.

When he was reminded of the pattern that saw his team take seven minors a night earlier, he scoffed.

“So then write about it,” said Sutter, offering sage advice to a thankful scribe.

“Do you think they were all penalties tonight? 

“I don’t.”

Debate the merit of each call as you wish, but ultimately the game was lost on an obvious Jonathan Huberdeau high stick on the opening draw of overtime, when his stick rode up and caught Rasmus Sandin in the face.

Easy call.

Forty seconds later, game over.

That’s when Mitch Marner made the Flames pay, as the Leafs generally will when you give them that many man advantages.

On a night he earlier extended his points streak to 22 games, his game-winner extended the team’s point streak to 14, while handing the Flames their fifth road loss in a row.

More numbers of concern for the Flames right now include the 13 power plays they’ve given up over the last two games.

Warranted or not, they have contributed to consecutive losses.

“Obviously, the penalties hurt us a bit,” said Noah Hanifin, who had three minors, two goals and one hell of a limp as he left the rink.

“They have a very good power play and a lot of high-end skill, so you don’t want to give them those opportunities. 

“But at five-on-five, I thought we did a really good job. I thought we battled hard.”

Indeed, they did, leaving with a well-earned point against the league’s hottest team on the second night of back-to-backs. 

Much to applaud here, as the Flames held their own 5-on-5 against the speedy Buds.

Dan Vladar’s 29 saves in a bid to win his fifth-straight game were thwarted by Toronto’s Big Three, as William Nylander (2 goals, 3 assists) Auston Matthews (1 and 2) and Marner (1 and 1) combined for 10 points.

Eight of those came on the power play, which the Leafs cashed in on three times.

As Sutter so often says, “simple.”

“Sometimes, when you’re in a battle like that and it’s such a hard-fought game, sometimes things happen and you get caught,” said Hanifin, when asked to explain the team’s sudden penalty problems.

“It’s something we obviously want to avoid. We don’t want to have that happen against a really good team like them.” 

 “We want to establish a five-on-five game and roll the lines and play physical. I think the last few games, being in the box has really slowed us down. When you’re in the box a lot, it’s hard to get into a rhythm.” 

In a highly entertaining see-saw battle that befitted the spotlight it was given on Hockey Night in Canada, the game was tied 2-2 after one period and 3-3 after two before the team swapped early goals in the third to set up overtime.

The Flames’ second goal came from former Leaf Nazem Kadri and their third was a rebound from Trevor Lewis who jumped on to replace Matthew Phillips.

Yes, Phillips.

The diminutive Calgarian made his season debut – and just his second NHL start in 572 days – on national TV.

He replaced Milan Lucic in the lineup, making the veteran a healthy scratch for the first time in almost a decade.

His replacement, Phillips, played on the third line with Mikael Backlund and Adam Ruzicka.

Because of the penalties, he played just nine minutes, which included a minute-and-a-half on the second power play unit. He showed a willingness to battle in front of the net, as he has in the AHL, and felt he was more comfortable as the game progressed, hitting the net with one of two shot attempts.

When asked about the roster move, Sutter, who has made it abundantly clear on numerous occasions he’s skeptical Phillips can make the jump from AHL scoring leader to the NHL, was curt:

“Because we put the little guy in and took the big guy out - can only dress 12,” he said.

“If it’s just about penalties and whose dressing and who is not, that’s not what the team is all about.”

“We scored a big power play goal to make it 4-3 in the third.”

Sure did – a fluky shot from Hanifin that trickled through Matt Murray and over the line only after the whistle blew. 

A video review determined it was a good goal due to being “continuous play.”

They all count, as do all the penalties.

Back to the roster moves he hates talking about:

“We tried to put some of them kids in the lineup to give us a little bit of pop these two games, and also show some of the veterans there is some… competition,” he said of Phillips and fourth line centre Radim Zohorna.

“The big centreman played really good both games.”

As far as Phillips’ feel-good moment goes, the 24-year-old couldn’t hide his smile.  

“Couple nerves definitely before the game,” he said.

“Obviously you want to win a game like that. But still, to play in Toronto, Saturday, Hockey Night in Canada... pretty cool.”

Advice from his 87-year-old grandfather, Don Winsor, who watched from Happy Adventure, Newfoundland?

“Play with dedication and play as hard as you can,” he said.

Advice from Huberdeau on costly penalties?

“Just keep your stick on the ice,” he said.

“Kinda lost my stick, goes into his face. We took a lot of penalties and then I do that in overtime. We’ve got to be a little smarter with our sticks...and in battle. 

“I think they missed a lot of calls, the refs, on us. 

"But that's the game.”

 Sure was.