Flames Takeaways: Markstrom's excellence not enough in physical Philadelphia trip

Shortly after making his 34^th save of the afternoon, Jacob Markstrom came up swinging.

Under siege throughout a classically confrontational visit to Philadelphia, the Flames netminder attempted to connect on three heavy punches thrown at former teammate Garnet Hathaway who had just been whistled for roughing.

After being previously forced to make 22 saves in the second period, it was natural to wonder if he contemplated taking a few swipes at his current teammates.

“That game could have gotten a little out of hand if he wasn’t there for us tonight,” said MacKenzie Weegar following Calgary’s 3-2 loss, in which Markstrom faced more than half his 42 shots in the second frame alone.

“He was definitely our best player tonight.”

He needed to be, or a game tied 2-2 after two periods would have been harder for Flames fans to stomach than a Philly Cheesesteak.  

As it turned out, it was a Travis Konecny short-handed goal with Hathaway in the penalty box moments later that was the difference, as Markstrom was beaten low glove side on a breakaway two minutes into the third.

“We had a good start, but in the second period, Jacob was the reason why this game was close,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska, whose club allowed 24 shots in a middle frame that saw the club squander 1-0 and 2-1 leads.

“Since he’s come back from his injury he’s been our most consistent player for sure

“Every night that he’s played, he’s given us a chance to win, and there was nothing different tonight.”

What was different was the fact a Flames club built around its work ethic, was a distant second in that department.

“In the second period we got outworked,” said Huska, whose club returned to .500.

“They were the better team.”

Sure were.

HUBERDEAU STRIKES AGAIN 

For the third game in four outings, Jonathan Huberdeau was a key contributor offensively, this time opening the game’s scoring two minutes into the second period with the type of finish Flames fans have generally only heard he’s capable of.

Martin Pospisil took a big hit in his own zone while springing Huberdeau on a breakaway he finished with a slick, backhand-to-forehand move he finished perfectly to beat Carter Hart.

“Nice play by Pospisil to get a breakaway… and then I kind of blacked out,” joked Huberdeau with host Ryan Leslie on the Sportsnet broadcast when asked about his second goal in as many games.

This goal came with his traditional white tape back on his stick, after his game-winner in Minnesota came with a black tape job courtesy of a slump-busting makeover from assistant coach Marc Savard.  

“Maybe I’ll switch every game,” he laughed.

“I’ll go black next game, so we’ll see.”

The Flames' other goal scorer was MacKenzie Weegar, who gave the club a 2-1 lead halfway through the second when he snuck in from the point to chip in a rebound that gave a new career high of nine goals.

“It’s great to get the career high, but it would have been better to get the two points.”

BROAD STREET BULLIES TRIBUTE 

On an afternoon in which the game started with a celebration of the architect of the Broad Street Bullies, former Flyers owner Ed Snider, the teams reacted accordingly.

An A.J. Greer hit on Travis Sanheim early on in the second period prompted the first of a never-ending string of post-whistle scrums that intensified quickly after Elias Lindholm finished a hit on Cam York with an elbow that needed a video review from the league to reduce the call from a major to a minor.

Lindholm more than doubled his penalty total this season by immediately having to fight Joel Farabee.

That’s not his game, nor that of the Flames who got sucked into Flyers hockey, giving the Flyers three of their six power play opportunities in the second period in which the ice “was tilted,” as Markstrom put it. 

“It was going to be tough coming into this building,” said Weegar, whose team’s streak of five straight road games without allowing a power play goal came to an end with Sean Couturier’s game-tying bank shot off Markstrom late in the second.

“Maybe the penalties we took (were a problem) – lots of penalties, and in the second period they pushed the pace.”

Having played one another twice in the last week likely helped jack up the hatred between the two right up until the final whistle when Huberdeau ran Nick Seeler into the boards with one second left to spur a lengthy scrum and plenty of conversation at the final buzzer.

UP NEXT 

The Flames missed a golden opportunity to keep their road trip a perfect 3-0, so they will instead try to salvage a third win in four roadies Sunday afternoon in Chicago where they will wrap up their tour against a Blackhawks team that will be without Connor Bedard whose jaw was broken by a hit Friday.