Dater: Thoughts and observations from Colorado Avalanche loss to Flames (+)

Listen, first off, I thought it was a great game tonight. If that’s the Western Conference final matchup – Colorado Avalanche vs. Calgary Flames – we would be in for a real treat. It was a hard-hitting game with some nastiness, a great heavyweight fight between Kurtis MacDermid and Milan Lucic and some sensational plays.

But the Avs found a way to lose the game, 4-3 in overtime. A soft play on the puck by Mikko Rantanen turned it over, leading to a Johny Gaudreau breakaway on Pavel Francouz. That was that. Calgary gets two points, Avs get one. Avs still have a 12-point lead on Flames in the battle for the Western crown.