There have been very few interruptions to the increments in the win column for the Calgary Flames of late, but just a few weeks ago, the Flames were stalled with two losses in a row, in back to back nights. One of those losses was to the Colorado Avalanche, and the Flames heading into the mile high city looking to avenge that loss as they start another road trip with games on back to back nights.
On The Line
The Avalanche are in tough to make something of the rest of this season, so in reality there’s not much for the Avs going forward, but for the Flames they hope to remain within striking distance of the Detroit Red Wings.
The Flow
At the onset of the game it was the Avalanche who were carrying the play, but traditional for the Flames on the road this season, their patience was in effect, they weathered the early storm and started to turn the tables on the Avalanche. Calgary started with a great display of the cycle by the third and fourth lines, followed by some display of speed from the second line that culminated with Rene Bourque setting a career high in goals as he took a Todd Bertuzzi rebound and made not mistake putting it past Peter Budaj. But the Avalanche wouldn’t lay down, getting control of the puck at the blueline, Marek Svatos was the recipient of a lucky bounce off of the stick of Mark Giordano and the Flames were tied at ones.
The Avalanche headed into the second period with a power play carried over from the late stages of the first period, and Milan Hejduk was the beneficiary of Ryan Smyth’s usual bag of tricks as Hejduk was able to bank a shot off of the skate of a helpless Miikka Kiprusoff who had Smyth and another Avalanche player sitting on top of him. Calgary would respond quickly in return as Craig Conroy would win a faceoff right back to Adrian Aucoin, who blasted his eighth of the season past Budaj. The Avs would come right back down the ice after taking advantage of a rare sloppy play by Robyn Regehr ended up with Ruslan Salei one timing a shot from the point past Kiprusoff for his third of the season, all against the Flames. The Flames kept pressing until the second half of the period when Jarome Iginla used Salei as a screen to rifle home his twentieth goal of the season. Sadly for Flames fans, it was just one of those nights because the Avalanche would respond with barely five minutes left in the second with Cody McLeod lifting a puck over to Marek Svatos who managed to get a stick on the pass for his second of the night.
The Flames and Avalanche were trading chances at both ends of the ice. Kiprusoff was stellar on the Avalanche power play midway through the third, and Budaj was stellar for the entire third as the Flames threw everything they could at the Avs who would manage to hold onto the one goal lead to go 17-0-0 when leading after two periods.
Three Stars
1. Marek Svatos: Svatos scored two, added an assist with his second goal being the game winner.
2. Todd Bertuzzi: He didn’t score, but boy was he dangerous. Rene Bourque could have had two or three more goals if he’d been able to convert on the chances Bertuzzi gave him.
3. Peter Budaj: Of the goals that the Flames scored on him, it was hard to blame him for any of them. More importantly he made big saves on whatever the Flames threw at him in the third period.
Big Save
With a mere three minutes left in the game, Peter Budaj stoned David Moss on a point blank one timed shot that would have tied the game for the Flames.
Big Hit
Not a lot of BIG hits tonight, but there certainly was an important one as Craig Conroy took a third period bodycheck awkwardly and appeared to hurt his shoulder. Though he would return later in the third.
The Goat
It pains me, but I have to say that the fact that Robyn Regehr was unable to get the puck out of his own zone on two occasions and that this directly led to the Avs third goal, was enough for him to wear the goat horns for the first time in.. what, forever? Or at least since he became good.
Mr. Clutch
In a name: Peter Budaj. His mastery of the Flames in the third period was enough to keep the game in the hands of the Avs.
Odds and Ends
Who are we to be hard on the Calgary Flames? This season the Flames have proven to be something special for the fans to see. Yet, they are still not given the leeway to be forgiven for the transgretions of losing a game. Oh, did you think I had something else to say there? No, it seems like the Flames lose all credit for their season the moment they struggle against a team like the Avalanche. Are the Avs one of the cellar dwellers in West, but there are times when they’re chances. Tonight, the game was a mad scramble, the Flames struggled to figure out how to play the Avs, and didn’t managed to sort it out before time ran out. Credit to the Avalanche though, they got a couple of lucky bounces, but the speed they used against the Flames gave the boys in white absolute fits.
Next Up
Dallas gets Colorado’s sloppy seconds tomorrow night as the Flames travel to Dallas for a game against the Stars. Game time is 6:30 PM MT and you can watch the action on Sportsnet West or listen on the Fan 960.
Lines (To Start):
Cammalleri – Conroy – Iginla
Bertuzzi – Langkow – Bourque
Glencross – Lombardi – Moss
Roy – Boyd – Nystrom
Phaneuf – Pardy
Regehr – Aucoin
Sarich – Giordano
Kiprusoff
