Dallas 3 Calgary 1
Heading into the Olympic break, the Flames are a team with more questions than answers…
When will they start to score goals? When will they put it together and start to win some games? Should we be sellers or buyers when the March 3 trade deadline rolls around?
Unfortunately, we’re starting to see the vague outlines of a season that is just getting away from the boys in red. The Flames are getting chances, but not getting goals–and though part of that is luck, it’s very clear that a bigger part is confidence, and this team still looks a bit mentally fragile. Calgary looked lights-out early, and built a 1-0 lead after a solid first period, but fell apart mentally when they faced adversity in the second and third. Mike Ribeiro scored a pair for the Stars, and Jamie Benn netted the winner early in the third, and the Flames were held to just one goal for what seems like the umpteenth time in what (at least offensively) is turning into a season to forget.
On The Line
That 9-game losing streak was very costly. At best it means that games like this one are textbook four-point affairs, and not for the faint-of-heart. At worst, it could spell an April disaster for a team that not too long ago had its sights set on the division title. But it’s too soon to worry about that. For now, this game is a must-win, and that’s no mere sports cliche. All of the teams that are chasing the Flames are in action tonight, and the Canucks had turned up the heat earlier by beating the Florida panthers 3-0. The Red Wings picked up a point in a shoot-out loss against San Jose, and while that’s better than a W, it certainly doesn’t make things any easier for a Flames team that if we’re being honest has yet to really hit their stride since shaking off the big slump.
The Flow
The first period got off to a very choppy start, but once both teams settled in, Calgary started to skate Dallas into the ground. The value of Darryl Sutter’s recent shenanigans really became clear, as Calgary rolled three solid scoring lines along with a fourth line that wasn’t half bad either. The best early chances were generated by the Higgins-Langkow-Kotalik unit. When Loui Eriksson found himself in the box for high-sticking, a Niklas Hagman wrister was close enough to turn on the goal light, but didn’t quite bulge the twine, as Marty Turco just caught it with the edge of his catching mitt. In the end, it would be Brendan Morrow who opened the scoring. Luckily for the home squad, he did it into his own net, sending an ill-fated clearing attempt behind a sprawling Marty Turco. Ouch. Credit Jarome Iginla for carrying the puck into the messy middle of the ice, but that may be the easiest goal he has scored in his 1000-plus NHL games. Dallas would be given a late powerplay, but the Flames’ PK was excellent, not only keeping the puck out of their own zone, but outchancing the Dallas powerplay 3-0. And really, but for some Turco-heroics (Turcoroics?), that would likely have been the score as well. However, Dallas was still in it after one, despite looking like they’d been skated right out of the rink. After one, the Flames outchanced the Stars 10-0, and outshot them 11-4, but had to be content with just the one-goal lead.
Dallas found their legs in the second, and were rewarded for their efforts with three second-period powerplays. They finally cashed in, with Mike Ribeiro putting in an absolutely sick between-the-legs shot from behind the goal line as Mikael Backlund was off for slashing. Calgary would get some chances of their own, but Marty Turco kept the score tied, playing his familiar role as Flame-killer. The team would take their first truly bad penalty of the game with less than four minutes to go, as the team was caught with too many men on the ice, setting up an absolutely huge kill. The PK was equal to the task, and Flames nation could be forgiven for heaving a sigh of relief at that stage of the game; however, the home team had to be disappointed with a 1-1 tie, given their absolute dominance in the first period.
Both teams looked a little rattled to start the third, but it was the Stars that took advantage, with Jamie Benn finding himself all alone in the slot and burying a wrister behind Kiprusoff. Suddenly this game seemed to be following an all-too-familiar script, with Calgary outshooting and outchancing their opposition, but finding themselves trailing on the scoreboard. The Stars seemed content to protect the lead, and for the next while the Flames seemed utterly stymied by the neutral zone trap, and the shots and chances started to dry up. A late Calgary power play made things interesting–and for a heartbeat it looked as if Iginla had scored to tie it, but a video review showed very clearly that the puck was not in. Mike Ribeiro would add the empty-netter, and that would be all she wrote.
Three Stars
- Marty Turco: Two huge saves from Marty Turco kept the Stars within striking distance when they were being outworked by a hungrier home squad. Those are the saves that win hockey games, and Turco deserves top honours in a game where he made 33 saves, many of them difficult.
- Mike Ribeiro: An absolutely sick play on the game-tying goal, putting the puck between his legs and in off Kiprusoff from behind the net. It was also Ribeiro who recovered the puck off a Flames’ faceoff win and iced the game in the dying seconds with the empty-netter.
- Jarome Iginla: For a moment, he thought he had two–in the end, just one goal for the Flames’ captain, and it came off the stick of Brendan Morrow. Nevertheless, a solid game from the captain, creating chances, taking shots and carrying the puck off the boards and into the slot all game long.
Big Save
Take your pick: you might like Marty Turco’s very solid stop on Jay Bouwmeester in the dying seconds of the first period. Or you might prefer Turco’s absolute robbery of Curtis Glencross, who was sent in all alone by the fresh-from-the-box Ales Kotalik in the second. Both saves kept the game 1-0, and it’s Turco who deserves credit for earning the comeback win for the visitors, keeping the game close until Ribeiro could tie it up.
Big Hit
Ian White seems to be growing into that #3, depositing a streaking James Neal on his posterior as he carried the puck into the slot. Not the sort of hit that sends a player home to mommy, but it negated a scoring chance and started a rush the other way. A very solid night for our new #3.
The Goat
Hmm…. what should we call it? Organization? When my rec team gets penalized for too many men on the ice twice in one game, it’s because we’re equal parts terrible and drunk. When an NHL team does the same thing, that’s just inexcusable. Especially since the second such penalty pretty much ended the Flames’ comeback before it started. To make matters worse, several untimely offsides negated powerplay rushes as the team looked a little out of sync, especially late in the game.
Mr. Clutch
This one’s easy: Ales Kotalik. When Miikka Kiprusoff uncharacteristically caught an edge in the second period and fell down, he left a wide-open cage for Jeff Woywitka, whose eyes must have been the size of dinner plates as he wound up for the slapper. It was Kotalik who drifted into the shooting lane and got the shot block off his torso. Kotalik had a bit of the old “scoreface” going on as he coolly cleared the puck up the boards afterwards–as if to say “Yeah: I just did that. Deal with it.”
Odds and Ends
This is a gloomy Game Take, so I’m going to end with some positives. The first is the play of Mikael Backlund, who just looks like he belongs on this team right now. He was solid both with and away from the puck, and notwithstanding an untimely slashing penalty was very solid in this game. Backlund was rewarded for his play with some time on the powerplay, where he showed poise with the puck and fired several shots toward the net. He makes smart plays at both ends of the ice, and if he can gain a little weight and a little confidence, my feeling is he’ll play in the NHL for a very long time… This PPV had some truly puzzling camera work. Case in point was when the camera treated us to a lengthy iso shot of Robyn Regehr gaining center, dumping the puck and then skating back to the bench, opening the gate and sitting down on the bench. Meanwhile, the play continued off screen for several seconds… If Ales Kotalik plays this well for the rest of his contract, then I’m going to be the first to say it: he’s underpaid. Yes, I’m serious. I recognize that he’s had some rough stretches in his career, but here’s hoping he’s one of those players who thrives on structure, and he regains his form from 2-3 seasons ago in a Calgary uniform… Chris Higgins is so due for a goal it hurts–but right now, I think that if he dressed up as a ringer on a beer league team he’d finish the game with 8 shots, an assist, four goalposts and a goose egg… I have a feeling that Sutter’s midseason moves may work out in the end, but I would caution this: we probably won’t know until next year. Shaking up the locker room was an admission that something wasn’t working–it wasn’t a promise that it could be instantly fixed… If the Flames can find some confidence and a bit of finish, they could make this an interesting season, but let’s face facts: there are maybe four genuine contenders in this league, and Calgary just isn’t one of them. Here’s hoping they can reinvent themselves as loveable underdogs and go on a nice run for the rest of the season.
Next Up
The Flames are the second half of the double-header on Hockey Night in Canada this Saturday, as the Ducks roll into town for Calgary’s last pre-Olympic tilt. Game time is 8 PM, on CBC and the Fan960.
Lines:
Higgins – Langkow – Kotalik
Hagman – Stajan – Iginla
Glencross – Backlund – Lundmark
Mayers – Boyd – Nystrom
Bouwmeester – White
Giordano – Pardy
Sarich – Regehr
