Even in losing effort, Flames' Coleman continues to play his best hockey

When Blake Coleman was brought to Calgary a few years back to do “a little bit of everything,” few would have predicted he’d enter this Christmas break leading the team in goals.

And points.

And plus/minus.

And penalty minutes.

And short-handed markers.

That’s a lot of everything.

Scoring twice in Los Angeles Saturday in the final game before the holidays, his second period short-handed goal tied a franchise record of four in December, tying a mark set by Theo Fleury in March 1991.

It knotted the game at 2-2 and gave the Flames a fighting chance to achieve their goal of finishing above .500.

He’d later add a rare power play marker in the third to reduce the Kings’ lead to 4-3, but his 12^th of the season wasn’t enough.      

A 5-3 loss at Crypto.com Arena puts the Flames at 14-15-5, leaving them three points out of the final wild card spot.

It snapped a three-game winning streak and gave the club its first regulation loss in six outings.

It also did well to highlight the two best players the Flames have had all season long – Coleman and Jacob Markstrom.

Despite being beaten four times, Markstrom was phenomenal for the third game in a row since returning from a fractured finger.

In the third period alone he made spectacular saves on Trevor Moore, Kevin Fiala and two on Pierre-Luc Dubois on the same breakaway.

His 31 saves gave the Flames a chance to stay in a one-goal game in which the Flames power play was given four opportunities in the third period alone to try stealing a point.

Coleman’s goal off a rebound seven minutes into the third marked the Flames’ only power play goal in six chances and set the table for another valiant push to try making yet another third period comeback.

However, former Flames goalie Cam Talbot stood his ground, allowing Quinton Byfield to score an empty netter to seal the deal with one minute left.  

It spoiled a memorable night for Coleman in which he also had several other great scoring chances.   

“You’d have to put him up there as one of our more consistent players,” said Ryan Huska of the personable Texan.

“He’s playing with a great energy right now. 

“Things are working for him, which is nice to see. 

“He’s a guy that works really hard and is a great character around our room and it’s great to see him rewarded offensively this year.”

Huska and Mikael Backlund were quick to point out it was their power play that once again let them down.

It sits 30^th in the league at 11.8%. 

“The last few games it’s definitely taken strides – we’re going to need it to get going and stay going if we’re going to make a push for the wild card,” said Coleman, who has six goals and 11 points in his last nine games.

“It’s showing signs of life.”

Barely.

The Flames have every reason to feel good about every other aspect of their game though, generating significant momentum throughout a month that included an arduous schedule with some of the league’s big boys.

“You look at our three road games versus three of the best in the west – Colorado, Vegas and L.A. and we were a goal away in all of them,” said Coleman, who had a seven-game point streak snapped two nights earlier in Anaheim

“We’re a good team. We don’t have superstars carrying us on off nights.  

“We can play with these teams and beat these teams and in this stretch we left some points on the table.”

Andrew Mangiapane was demoted to the fourth line to start the game, with A.J. Greer taking his spot on the top trio. Mangiapane responded with an assist on Rasmus Andersson’s goal three minutes into the game.

Yegor Sharangovich continued his red-hot play with a world class setup on Coleman’s short-handed goal, which gave the Belarus native points in eight of his last nine games.

The Flames resume play at home on Dec. 27 against Seattle.