I'm not specifically talking about losing in the final minutes of a game. I am talking about the tendency to surrender leads in winnable games, and the way in which we surrender those leads.
True, but this wasn't a script we'd really seen before. This particular game was a step in the right direction, I think.
We have had tons of games in the middle of this season where we've gone into a defensive shell in the third and just been absolutely bombarded, on our heels, not even capable of making a single breakout pass. This was a refreshing change. We had complete control throughout the third. We managed to establish the cycle to kill time, we managed to get a few scoring chances. We drew a penalty and didn't take any. It was about as close to suffocation of the Knights as you're going to get.
To me, that's the systematic part, and the part that has future implications. The fluky goal against to tie it probably won't happen again this season, so no reason to worry about it going forward.
I know that people want to tie this into some kind of bigger picture narrative, but I'm just trying to be realistic. Does that play have anything to do with mental toughness? Frolik returns from a month off with a jaw guard strapped over his face and makes a bad pass back to Brodie, who gets handcuffed, and Smith isn't ready for it. Is that a mental toughness thing? Or is it just a mistake? Then you watch the re-start, and there's a lucky bounce for Vegas, they make a good play, Marchessault makes a good move to give himself space, and makes a good shot. Is that mental toughness? Meanwhile, you have the entire third period where the Flames showed very good mental toughness. Which is more indicative of what this team can do?
Right now, pretty much every facet of the Flames' game is firing on all cylinders except for finishing breakaways and scoring on the PP. There are far worse positions to be in (combining where we are in the standings). Of course there are things you could worry about, if you nitpick, but you'll save yourself a lot of grief if you just take things as they are.