The Flames wrap up the longest road trip of the season in Los Angeles where just over a week earlier the visitors stormed in and pillaged two points from the Kingdom. Fast forward and the Flames have already had a successful roadtrip winning four of the first five games including a fantastic playoff type of game in San Jose on Saturday.
Looking at the score alone, you might think that the Flames took it easy tonight given how they must have felt beating the best team in hockey, but you’d be dead wrong. This game was all about the Flames scoring opportunities and if it wasn’t for the heroics of Jonathan Quick, the Kings might have seen another case of regicide.
On The Line
At the end of a long roadtrip with eight points in hand, the Flames have already made enough waves to consider the trip a good one, but with Colorado winning earlier in the night, it meant that the Flames were one point back of the surprising Avalanche, though they do have games in hand.
The Flow
The first period was all Calgary, that is until the Flames first power-play of the game. The momentum of the visitors start seemed to be sapped by the man advantage and mere moments after the advantage ceased, Scott Parse used some outrageous speed to burn around Adam Pardy and tuck the puck past Kiprusoff with Aaron Johnson pressing him from behind. Calgary responded quickly when Curtis Glencross backhanded his ninth of the season past quick on a nifty setup from Craig Conroy. The rest of the period was largely spent in the Kings zone, with the Flames working hard, but not getting anything else past Quick.
The second was a departure from the first, if only for the Kings second power-play. It was destined to end up in the back of the Flames net as they tried valiantly to get the puck out of the zone, but were unable to. Shot attempt after shot attempt were launched at Miikka Kiprusoff until Jarrett Stoll snuck to the top of the crease and redirected a cross crease pass behind the Flames netminder.
The third frame was all Calgary and they pressed for the equalizer in waves. The Kings were hardly able to establish any kind of pressure in the Flames zone in the third until the final moments when the Flames were trying to get the puck up ice to pull Kiprusoff for the extra attacker. The Flames came desperately close to tying things up several times on the power-play but Quick had an answer or the bounce just wasn’t in the Flames favour.
Three Stars
- Jonathan Quick: Quick was outstanding tonight, getting a few lucky saves, but he had to be good to make them.
- Jay Bouwmeester: Playing 30:45 it literally seemed like he was always on the ice. He was especially good in the third period 4 on 4.
- Curtis Glencross: Scored the Flames only goal, but led a Flames line that was dangerous and maintained pressure in the offensive zone all night.
Big Save
There were a number of saves that Quick came up with to save the day, but none was more dangerous than a shot from the Flames in the third on the power-play that saw the puck go off his shoulder, hit his glove, roll off his arm and into the post before being swept away.
Big Hit
Craig Conroy took the worst of a hit on Oscar Moller, a big display in the neutral zone it resulted in Conroy clutching his arm, and he wouldn’t return to the game. Conroy looked to be in a lot of pain on the bench, so consider him questionable at best for now.
The Goat
It’s almost heretic to breath his name in this context since November, but Jarome Iginla did not have a strong night. Credit to the Kings for keying on him and shutting him down, but we’ve come to expect a little more fight from the captain.
Mr. Clutch
Jonathan Quick was hands down the best player on the ice. While the Flames chances were hindered by some really unfortunate bounces, he always came up with huge saves when needed. One of his best was on Conroy in the second period when Glencross sent Conroy in on a great opportunity only to have Quick flash the leg and stop the scoreless wonder.
Odds and Ends
It’s frustrating when your team loses, especially when you can sort of forecast the loss. However, tonight could have been a sleepy game from the Flames, but it wasn’t. It was actually a spirited affair for the visitors who ran up against a goaltender who really had their number this evening. Missing Robyn Regehr might have factored in more as the defence was playing short handed with Staffan Kronwall drawing in for the first time since October, but even Kronwall didn’t look out of place, and had a couple of nice hits. The Flames had a good cycle going, were aggressive in the offensive zone and barely let the Kings get a sniff of the Flames zone all game, yet they still came up short. The biggest thing to take away from this game was the fact that through 60 minutes, the style of game didn’t change a bit, they ground down the Kings and hoped for the best. While the best didn’t come about, this was certainly a good building block for a Flames team that is really coming to grips with the Brent Sutter ideology, and embracing it lovingly.
Next Up
The Flames finally head home to take on the Thrashers on Wednesday night. Game time is 7:30 PM and can be seen on Sportsnet West.
Lines:
Dawes – Jokinen – Iginla
Moss – Langkow – Bourque
Glencross – Conroy – Nystrom
Sjostrom – Boyd – McGrattan
(These were a real blender)
Kronwall – Phaneuf
Giordano – Bouwmeester
Pardy – Johnson
Kiprusoff
