Phew…
That was a close one. Closer than it should have been in fact. a 7-6 final score would lead one to believe that the game was close one, perhaps back and forth. You wouldn’t imagine that a final score like that would stem from an early 5-0 home team lead, but it did…and it almost evaporated as quickly as it appeared. Some bad luck, bad play, and questionable officiating almost cost Calgary the win.
On The Line
The Flames were mired in a small 2 game losing streak, right after reeling off 6 straight wins. Those 6 wins would start to look pretty diminutive if the losing continues tonight. The Flames could stay tied for 1st place in the Northwest Division with a victory, as Minnesota also won on the night giving them 17 points.
The Flow
The game started off quick, with Nashville taking the play to the Flames on the first shift. Calgary then found a couple scoring chances and took the momentum right back and carried the play until Todd Bertuzzi took a tripping penalty 5:39 into the frame. The Flames did a good job on the penalty kill, and they were rewarded when Eric Nystrom found a cherry picking Craig Conroy and fed him a breakaway pass. Conroy sealed the deal with the Flames first short-handed goal of the year, finding the 5-hole on Dan Ellis and staking the home side to an early 1-0 lead. Calgary continued to dominate, with Iginla missing the net on a clear cut breakaway, but found paydirt again when Rene Borque capped off a mad scramble by wristing the puck past a helpless Ellis for a 2-0 lead. The goal parade didn’t stop there, as Craig Conroy added his 2nd of the evening and Cory Sarich scored his first of the year giving Calgary a jaw-dropping 4-0 lead going to the break. The Flames were outshot 14-10 in the first period but Kiprusoff was strong, and Ellis was very, very weak.
Calgary came out firing in the 2nd period, still high off the first period onslaught. Jarome Iginla sniped his 7th of the season, a powerplay tally just 2:13 into the period. Then, the game changed dramatically. With Dion Phaneuf and Jim Vandermeer in the box for their infractions, Nashville found the scoresheet with a 5-on-3 tally from Martin Erat. Phaneuf was then sent right back to the penalty box upon his exit for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Jason Arnott slapped home his 6th of the campaign to make it a 3 goal game. Just 4 minutes after that, Shea Weber added his 6th of the year and it was now a 5-3 game. Calgary then pressed back and exactly 1 minute after Weber’s goal Daymond Langkow was rewarded for his goal called back earlier in the game for a phantom kick, as he scored his 4th. The score was 6-3 heading to the 3rd.
The Ice was still wet when Jarome Iginla scored his 2nd of the game and 2nd powerplay goal of the game, halfway through Shea Weber’s interference penalty that carried over from the previous period. At 5:26 of the period, David Legwand found the scoresheet making it a 7-4 game. Then, Adrian Aucoin was accused of hooking Vernon Fiddler on a breakaway and the Predator forward was given a penalty shot. The Fiddler roofed it, making it a tense 2 goal game with 3 full minutes left to play. Calgary seemed to be in the clear when Radek Bonk took a hooking penalty with less than 2 minutes to play, but the Flames eased up and allowed Shea Weber to score shorthanded making it a 1 goal game with 20 seconds left to play. That was all though, Nashville couldn’t finish a comeback for the ages and the Flames skated off with their tails between their legs, just happy to get off the ice.
Three Stars
- Jarome Iginla: 2 goals, 2 assists, and scored the eventual game winning goal. Was a dominant force all game.
- Todd Bertuzzi: 3 assists for the big lug, as he continues to impress.
- Craig Conroy: 2 goals and an assist in the 1st period to pace the Flames to their 4-0 lead.
Big Save
The puck was loose to the right of Kiprusoff, and Patric Hornqvist was the first to arrive. He tried to flip the puck top shelf with his backhand, but the Calgary netminder denied him by diving forward with his blocker, knocking the puck out of mid-air and out of harms way.
Big Hit
Cory Sarich completely flattened the 6’2 Joel Ward with an open ice smash behind the Calgary net. I mean, he levelled him. You’ll see that one on the highlights for a while. Looked like a Phaneuf hit, but it was indeed number 6. The two combatants then dropped the gloves and had a battle of the fists, with Sarich taking the clear decision as well as giving Ward the piledriver takedown.
The Goat
I’ve never said this before, as I hate to harp on the officiating in a write-up about the game. But tonight, the referees take the goat horns. Yes, Calgary let their foot off the gas peddle and let Nashville back into the game, but the stripes had a hand, and a huge one at that in what happened. The calls on Phaneuf for unsportsmanlike, and Aucoin for the hooking call that led to Fiddler’s penalty shot were just dead wrong.
Mr. Clutch
Jarrrrrrooooooooommmmmmmmme Iginlaaaaaaaaa – Iggy looked strong tonight, and he scored 2 very Iginla-esque goals.
Odds and Ends
Shots on goal were 29-29. That means there were some terribly ugly save percentages this game with 13 goals scored on just 58 shots. Phaneuf led the way with 6 shots, and had a game high 28:35 of icetime. Jarome Iginla is now tied for 3rd in the NHL with 18 points. Not bad considering his slow start to the year. Michael Cammalleri is quitely putting up the points, he has 14 points in 14 games. Dion Phaneuf is 2nd in the NHL in time on ice per game with an average of 29:04. It was nice to see the losing streak end, but Calgary can not be pleased with their effort in this one. You simply can not blow a 5-0 lead. It didn’t happen, luckily for them..but that was far too close. When did they change the beer cups at the saddledome to clear, instead of cloudy white? I like the change. Less foam = more beer! Entertaining game and entertaining crowd, especially the poor guy in front of me who had a bowl of ice cream thrown in his face. Awesome.
Next Up
Calgary looks to make it two in a row as they travel to Columbus for a 5:00 tilt on Saturday night. The game will be shown on CBC, and as always you can tune in to the trusty Fan 960.
Lines (To Start):
Cammalleri – Conroy – Iginla
Borque – Langkow – Bertuzzi
Glencross – Boyd – Moss
Prust – Primeau – Nystrom Phaneuf – Vandermeer
Regehr – Sarich
Aucoin – Giordano
