I just don't get this season, and I doubt I'm alone.
I
don't think Mike Keenan gets it, I'm pretty sure Darryl Sutter doesn't
get it. To a man I wonder if the Flame's players get it. The Flames
coming in to an encounter with their unlikely rival, the Nashville
Predators were 25-10-6 in their last 41 games. That's half a season,
that's a 112 point pace, that's a little unbelievable given the wild
swings in the club's consistency level.
A team that had
their goaltending in the bottom 1/10th of the season through the first
two months, a team that had special teams at the bottom of the stack, a
team that has only managed one victory in extra time all season with
eight others ending in heart break.
In the end the enigma
continued with the Predators coming from behind and beating the Flames
in overtime, after gassing what looked to be a dominant first stanza
that should have had the Flames down two or three.
When I was a
kid and got frustrated with a Rubik's cube I knew I could just pop it,
send its pieces scattering and then put it back together the way it
came in the package. Anyone have a clue with this bunch?
On The Line
As per usual a whole bunch. The Flame's prime
competitors for first place in the division; the Minnesota Wild lost
last night in Carolina, and in the end lost again tonight in Atlanta in
a shoot out. One point in two games, and the Flames carrying a game in
hand through action was a great opportunity to push things in Calgary's
favor. The ever increasing noose provided by a surging Colorado
Avalanche and a rebounding Vancouver Canucks makes every second of
every game crucial from here on out.
The Flow
The Flames had all the reason in the world to come out
hard in this one, what with the terrible start against Columbus the
other night (out shot 18-6), and then were pulled off the ice in
practice yesterday for poor attention to detail. Nope. Instead we saw a
lackluster bunch take two early penalties and get down 14-1 in shots in
the first period before some powerplays of their own helped them push
back late. A fortunate scoreless draw for Calgary. ... The second was
primarily all Calgary with the Flames pushing back hard and getting
ahead when Craig Conroy scored an unassisted goal for the second
straight game, the Flames only offence in the two contests. ... The
third was much of the same with the Flames carrying the play again
through the first 15 minutes only to have a bad deflection beat the
otherwise stellar Kiprusoff and send the game to overtime. An Adrian
Aucoin cough up in the extra period was the difference as the Predators
pounced and put it away.
Three Stars
1 - Miikka Kiprusoff: Came within a tough bounce of posting
120 minutes of scoreless hockey and back to back shut outs after going
most of the season without a single dough nut. 2 - Scott Nichol: Former Flames pest tied the game up and was at
his aggravating best all night. Has carved out a heck of a career for a
wayward player with little upside. 3 - J.P. Dumont: Game winner is the game winner, despite an open net.
Big Save
In the third period a whack to the blade caused Daymond
Langkow to cough the puck out in front of the net to an awaiting Martin
Erat whose on timer found the belly of a Johnny on the Spot Miikk
Kiprusoff. A pad save on Suter in the second was equally as stellar.
Big Hit The best actual hit of
the night was Dion Phaneuf stapling former Hitmen forward Jerred
Smithson into the boards in the second, but you almost want to give it
to Robyn Regehr for an attempted demolition on Vernon Fidler in the
second when he did his infamous backward skating charge across the ice
and just missed the Predator forward.
The Goat
Adrian Aucoin. The team gave up the puck all night and
Aucoin's cough wasn't much different than most save the fact that he
like the others, wasn't bailed out by Miikka Kiprusoff in overtime. His
gaff ended twine and with that he has horns.
Mr. Clutch
Kiprusoff in a landslide again. With the possible
exception of the game last week against Colorado and possibly a road
game in Phoenix, he's been the team's best player for the last three
weeks game in and game out. Early in the season the team was losing
games on goaltending, now they are finding points on goaltending. Three
out of four points in two home games that featured only two Craig
Conroy unassisted goals says it all.
Odds and Ends
Kristian Huselius' crisis of confidence has reached
critical mass, the man has lost it. A three assist effort in Phoenix
looked like a turning point, but tonight soft turnover after soft
turnover left one shaking his head. What to do? ... Three coaches,
three seasons, and still the Flames powerplay seems to be the only one
in the league that spends the whole time running around itself instead
of getting the penalty kill running. Complete panic at all times. ...
It's often said that the Flames don't play 60 minutes, but when you
look at parts of the second and most of the third you can probably
point out the fact that the Preds one this one with 20 or so minutes
missing as well. Parity in the NHL has every team seemingly not putting
in 60 minute efforts. ... Standings good news? The Flames move another
point clear of the 9th place Canucks (4 pts), the bad news? The team
remains tied with the Wild and have only two points of space over both
Colorado and Nashville. Yikes. Some moderately good news? Losses for
Columbus and Chicago are suggesting this really is a nine team race for
eight spots and not ten or twelve. Fourteen games to go and they likely
need 12 points to snag a spot.
Next up
A weekend off before a home date with the Blues on Monday night. The .
