Whaled and Flamed: A Hartford Sizzler in Calgary

[HartfordWhalers]

CALGARY—The Hartford Whalers set sail on their first losing road trip of the season, only to find themselves shipwrecked by the Calgary Flames in a fiery 4-2 showdown. The Flames, clearly determined to prove that their home ice is the hottest real estate in the RSHL, ignited their offense and roasted their visitors, despite the Whalers' early splash in the scoring column.

Hartford started strong with Mason Appleton scoring just five minutes in, giving Whalers fans hope that their team would stay afloat. Unfortunately, that optimism sank faster than a lead anchor when forward Tye Kartye got himself ejected for elbowing late in the first period. Not content with just playing hockey, Kartye decided to dabble in the fine art of chaos, earning a misconduct penalty and a premature trip to the locker room. Tage Thompson dutifully took his place in the box, perhaps pondering if the Hartford bench should start offering frequent flyer miles for penalty visits.
From there, the Flames did what Flames do—burn. Fox, Necas, and Vatrano each found the net, keeping the home crowd roaring and leaving Hartford's defense searching for a fire extinguisher. Clayton Keller added an insurance goal late in the third period, because nothing says “just in case” like an extra torch to an already sizzling victory.

The three stars of the game were unsurprisingly all Flames, with Sergei Bobrovsky standing tall in net, Brady Tkachuk proving that being a menace runs in the family, and Adam Fox making sure the Whalers regretted every shift. Meanwhile, Hartford’s MacKenzie Weegar did his best to keep the ship steady with two assists, but alas, the ship had already hit the iceberg.

For the Whalers, the loss drops them to 3-3-1, keeping them first in the Stastny Division, but with the Flames now breathing down the Oilers necks at 6-1-1, that lead might not last long. Whether Hartford can patch the holes in their boat before their next road trip remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure—Calgary just reminded them why playing with fire isn’t always the best idea.

At least they didn’t leave completely empty-handed. The good news? Net profits from the game totaled a cool $1,069,200. The bad news? None of that can be used to buy back those two points in the standings.

Better luck next time, Hartford.


Whaley McBurnt
Hartford Post