Calgary 3 Phoenix 4
After the improbable run of the past 2 months, in which Calgary has been the NHL’s best team, tongues have started wagging around the league. Is Calgary for real? Could they make noise in the playoffs?
Some say that question has been answered by two impressive performances against San Jose. For those of us who remain skeptical, no single game will swing our opinion too far in one direction or the other. However, another team with something to prove came into our barn tonight, and showed why the Flames may want to keep their heads on a swivel. Phoenix is one possible first-round matchup for Calgary–and tonight they showed that they too can skate with the big boys in a statement game.
On The Line
This is a strange season in terms of determining what is on the line in each game. The Flames are 9 points ahead of their next closest division rival, and 11 points behind the two teams ahead of them in the West. With less than half a season to go, this pretty much means that barring a meltdown or an improbable winning streak, Calgary’s destined for the third seed in this year’s postseason–no chance of overtaking the teams ahead and very little chance of being overtaken from behind. So in that sense, it’s hard to pin a lot of importance to a single game against a non-division rival. However, it is critical to show that they can bounce back after an emotional win against a superior rival and show that consistency that has been lacking in seasons past.
The Flow
The Flames were a little tentative to start the first, but didn’t look all that bad until Phoenix opened the scoring on David Hale’s second goal of his career. We have been wishing for that Hale storm, haven’t we? After that, Calgary wasn’t awful or anything–they just weren’t very good, and the Coyotes deserve credit for a workmanlike performance that made it clear that they were not about to trade chances with Calgary’s forwards. Jarome Iginla tried to get the team going with an early fight, but even that seemed ill-timed, as it was on a powerplay–and without him on the wing, the PP looked… well, anemic would be a kind word.
In the second, the Flames came out strong, and looked to be finding their legs when the Coyotes went up by two goals as Peter Mueller capitalized on a broken play in the offensive zone that caught Miikka Kiprusoff off guard. A few minutes later, Calgary seemed to lose its hope–and its mojo–until Michael Cammalleri broke the goose-egg with a quick snapshot from the edge of the faceoff circle. However, this would not last long, as a flukey goal from Olli Jokinen would put the Yotes up by two as the teams trudged back to the dressing room.
The third period was Calgary’s best, but it was too little, too late. Matthew Lombardi would blast a puck from the point past Bryzgalov, only to see Mikkel Boedker restore Phoenix to a 2 goal edge just minutes later. Michael Cammalleri gave the home team hope, redirecting a Phaneuf blast past Bryzgalov to pull the Flames within one, but that was all she wrote as the Coyotes shut down the neutral zone and ran out the clock for the remainder of the game.
Three Stars
- Ilya Bryzgalov: This may not have been a perfect game for the Coyotes’ goaltender, but don’t forget that his goaltending coach is Grant Fuhr–who may as well have invented the idea that it’s not shutouts, goals-against or save percentage that matters. It’s wins. That was Fuhr’s credo with the powerhouse Oilers, and Bryzgalov lived up to it, making the saves he needed to make when it mattered most.
- Michael Cammalleri: Two goals for the diminutive forward, who looked fleeter-of-foot tonight than he usually is–he had a chance or two at the hat-trick late in the game, and was Calgary’s most dangerous forward all game long.
- David Hale: This may be a sentimental pick–but I do think Hale, who was two-thirds of the way to a Gordie Howe hat trick when the buzzer sounded, deserves credit for a solid game all around. Besides–we’ve been waiting a while for that Hale storm.
Big Save
I’m very tempted to give this honour to Miikka Kiprusoff, who stopped Shane Doan on a shorthanded breakaway. Mind you, he didn’t stop the puck–it went wide. He stopped Shane Doan–all 216 pounds of him–from sliding into the net after the veteran forward lost his footing. But the honour goes to Bryzgalov, who stopped Michael Cammalleri’s point-blank blast in the third, and in the process ended any lingering comeback hopes.
Big Hit
It may not have shivered any timbers, but Adrian Aucoin’s second-period shoulder on Mikkel Boedker led directly to a turnover at the Phoenix blue-line, which led directly to the goal that turned this debacle into a hockey game. It was a veteran play, showing that sometimes throwing hits is not about “applying your force”–it’s about regaining the puck and putting it into your opponent’s net.
The Goat
You could point to team intensity, but it was there at times in this game. I’m giving goathorns to an aspect of Calgary’s game that has bothered me all year, even in games where they’ve won. The “shift-after-a-goal.” Calgary’s often been weak after scoring a goal, but after Cammalleri’s second-period marker, they were miserable for the next minute and a half. Olli Jokinen’s goal may have been a fluke, but it was not an unpredictable outcome. Calgary has to put the pedal to the metal in those situations.
Mr. Clutch
This honour goes to Shane Doan, who was all over the ice tonight, turning pucks over, making smart defensive plays, and moving his feet well in all three zones. He didn’t score a goal, despite a shorthanded breakaway, but he did show how a veteran captain can contribute in other ways than on the scoresheet, and was instrumental to his team’s win.
Odds and Ends
In the first intermission, Kelly Hrudey made the certain-to-be-controversial case for teams to quit blocking so many shots. His argument was a little goalie-biased, but I have to wonder–could he have a point? If players are constantly going down to injury, you have to start doing the math on whether indeed a shot-block is a wise play… Jim Hughson, having given the Flames their due in his video-blog, was practically gleeful at the silent crowd in the Dome tonight. Psst! Jim! It’s because it’s the Coyotes. No-one cares! Seriously, I think we fans have to be allowed our emotional breaks too–it was a little hard to get keyed up for a game so soon after the big win on Thursday… Phoenix employs a very effective forecheck, and also clogs up the neutral zone well–but most critically, they had clearly been watching some tapes of the Flames. Every time Calgary got the puck into the Coyotes’ zone, it seemed it was back down the ice mere seconds later…. Calgary crushed Phoenix in the faceoff department, with Craig Conroy leading the way at 16 wins, 3 losses. However, the Coyotes often were able to get the puck back seconds after the draw, making that statistic a little moot… Adam Pardy had a rocky second period, and ended the night at -1–but it was Dustin Boyd who ended the night at -4, having been on the ice for all four goals against… On a different note, does anyone else think it’s time for another diving crackdown? Late in the third, Ed Jovanovski looked to me like he skated directly into Rene Bourque’s stick and fell over as soon as he felt the contact. He may be a dumb ape, but he’s stronger on his skates than that… However,both teams did an excellent job of staying out of the box, with each taking just two minor penalties all game.
Next Up
Calgary’s nemesis has been the second game in two nights, but they look to change that to-morrow evening as they take on the Colorado Avalanche in Denver, at 6:00 MST. The game will be broadcast on Sportsnet-West and the Fan 960.
Lines (To Start):
(note: after Iginla’s first period fight, Keenan put the forward lines in a virtual blender and never stopped)
Cammalleri – Lombardi – Iginla
Bourque – Langkow – Vandermeer
Glencross – Conroy- Moss
Nystrom – Boyd – Roy
Phaneuf – Pardy
Giordano – Sarich
Aucoin – Regehr
