As a born and raised Western Canadian I’ve never had any affinity to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Heck I was able to foresake my homeland and cast aside the Riders, so I wasn’t about to get nostalgic for an era I didn’t witness.
But I have to admit a visit from Toronto to Calgary is a fun event to take in. You want to see a red win because of the media. You want to see a red win because of the number of blue jerseys in your way all night at the Dome. You just want to see a red win, something the Dome faithful were handed when the workmanlike Flames handed the Buds a 4-3 setback on Saddledome ice on Remembrance Day, in a that was certainly memorable.
The team got solid efforts from all quarters of their roster, and put that team game back on the frozen wet stuff, a premise so simple yet so foreign through parts of this young season. Another cardiac kids burst from Toronto made the final score in this one seem much closer than the play would indicate.
On The Line
Successful teams nuke skids before they become season altering events, while nursing positive streaks to store away space needed later in the campaign when things inevitably go wrong. For the second time in seven days the Flames needed a win to to avoid the dreaded three game losing skid. They eked a tough one out against Nashville last week, can they do it again?
The Flow
The Leafs took charge off the hopper with two powerplays, one resulting in a goal though the Flames were probably with the edge five on five. At the halfway point in the period the Flames took over, both five on five and on the powerplay, notching two goals and taking the lead through twenty.
Period two was all Calgary. The Leafs had a few chances, but the Flames had at least a half dozen shifts where they hemmed the visitors in, cycled the puck and wore them down. Strong play from Vesa Toskala and some chips and whacks going wide kept the game a one goal margin until Dion Phaneuf wired one off of Kaberle to give the Flames a two goal lead into the third.
The Flames took the collective pedal off the gas in the third, letting the Leafs buzz around and generate scoring chances. They came oh so close during a mid period powerplay but ran into a cool as a cucumber Miikka Kiprusoff blocking shot after shot through screens. A second Dustin Boyd goal gave the Flames a three goal lead and what looked like a coast home until the Leafs Nashvilled’ Calgary into another nail biting finish.
Three Stars
- Dustin Boyd: Secondary scoring! Secondary scoring! Dustin Boyd scored seven times last season in a half season of work, but now has six in only 16 starts.
- Dion Phaneuf: For a guy that wasn’t supposed to play he sure played a role in the outcome. A goal, two assists, a few big hits, and he even tipped a Craig Conroy face off win late into his own net to make things really exciting!
- Jarome Iginla: He’s beleaguered me all season with his great goal and point totals despite not playing all that well in my opinion. Tonight he was much better. A goal and an assist but harder on the puck, better getting it deep and he avoided the soft turnovers. Good to see.
Big Save
The Flames were enjoying a few shifts of sustained pressure midway through the first with a lead of two one when Curtis Glencross found a juicy rebound and attempted to whack it in shortside only to have Vesa Toskala slide across and stone him.
Big Hit
With time running out in the first, Leaf’s rookie Mikhail Grabovski followed Calgary defender Mark Giordano into his own end and did the old sandwich maker into the boards leaving both players in a heap. But the better hit was in the third when the very same Grabovski took a welcome to the NHL hit from Dion Phaneuf putting him down just inside the Flames blueline.
The Goat
No passengers in this game so I’ll pick on the penalty kill. They gave up one in the first, and a just expired one in the third. But what was worse was the team’s inability to contain anything as the Leafs moved the puck around at will. They need to pressure the passing points and make it difficult for the opposition.
Mr. Clutch
Todd Bertuzzi. Didn’t pick him as a game star, but it was his jump in the first that turned things around for Calgary, his hands directly leading to the team’s first goal by Dustin Boyd. And give Keenan credit for recognizing he had the legs and and leaning on him early.
Odds and Ends
Hard to guess how many players actually playing still have the flu, but Mike Cammalleri missed the game altogether with a bad bout. Andre Roy stepped back into the lineup with Eric Nystrom moving up the roster to take Cammalleri’s place. Other injury news had Dion Phaneuf playing despite a black eye, but Jim Vandermeer out for a long while with a broken leg. Welcome to the NHL Mr. Pardy. Do the Flames put in a call for Matt Pelech? They can’t recall Anders Eriksson because of re-entry waivers, though a third period bump to Cory Sarich may bring Eriksson into play if Sarich hadn’t returned so quickly. The crew thought knee or possibly back, my guess is elbow with a hyper extension. … Interesting to see a Miikka Kiprusoff – Vesa Toskala match up with neither team being from San Jose. Both goaltenders were brides maids to Evgeni Nabokov in the goalie factory of Northern California. … OK, I get that there are many Leaf fans in Western Canada, but mostly Leaf fans? Mostly Toronto fans in the building? “Look at all those Leafs jerseys”, seems to me I saw one blue for every red in almost every shot. I get the original six Canadian team support but lets take it easy. … If these guys could only find some consistency and some team defense. The Flames haven’t been this deep up front since the 1980’s in terms of guys that can skate, get in on the forecheck, cycle down low and cause mayhem. That brand of hockey wears out hockey teams and should lead to a solid season if they can tighten things down in their own zone. … Hard to hate the Leafs anymore. For a while they had a big budget and you hated them. Then they started losing but still had some of those players that you just couldn’t stand … so you hated them. Now? Pluggy young team that works hard. Hard to hate … Anyone else think of David Hale when that juicy rebound slipped out to Adam Pardy in the third? … Hands up; those that wanted Brandon Prust exposed to waivers the night that Dustin Boyd spent 12 hours in Illinois, you glad the Flames just upped Timberlake’s frequent flyer miles? Solid with the puck, willing to get it deep and simple every time he gets it and will drop the gloves with anyone. You need guys like that. … With Cammelleri sick I thought Matthew Lombardi would suddenly get past his shoulder injury but no, he remains sidelined with a count of ten games. Speaking of Lombardi, I’ll ask again; where does he fit in with Dustin Boyd now centering Iginla and having six goals on the season? His pace suggests a 30 goal season is underway, something that is probably somewhat unlikely though one can hope this early season isn’t the David Moss sampler and a real honest to goodness breakout. … Eric Nystrom did well with more ice as well. He’ll never be a point producer but he handles the puck well enough to ride shotgun with skill players. … The win pumps the Flames past Vancouver and into first place in the Northwest Division, the first time they’ve held that honour alone all year. But don’t get cute Calgary, you have Vancouver back a point, and Edmonton and Minnesota back just two.
Next Up
It may not be Detroit, but a visit to San Jose seems pretty creepy to this writer, but that’s the task for the Flames on Thursday night when they take on the high flying Sharks. Game time 8:30pm a PPV contest.
Lines (To Start):
Glencross – Boyd – Iginla
Bertuzzi – Langkow – Bourque
Nystrom – Conroy – Moss
Prust – Primeau – Roy
Phaneuf – Pardy
Sarich – Regehr
Giordano – Aucoin
Kiprusoff
