The stretch run to the NHL playoffs is upon us. With one month +1 day to go in the Flames season, the January struggles are seeing the club on the outside looking in. With 2 straight wins, this team does to be getting those all important chances going in, and the confidence of individuals, and the collective psyche as a whole improving.
Tonight, the Flames take on the Detroit Red Wings, currently the team holding the last coveted playoff spot.
On The Line
While the “must win” cliché holds true for this game more then most that are thrown around at this time, some perspective is needed. The Flames do play Detroit in 6 days back in Calgary. Also, Detroit is not the Detroit of past years, hence their positioning a mere point above the roller coaster Flames at this point in the season…with a month worth of games for both teams still remaining, anything can happen past tonight. All that said, any chance at any point in the season, that you get to leap frog a team or two and are in the playoffs, you take it.
The Flow
The first starts with good action both ways. Steve Staios starts out by hitting the crossbar. Miikka Kiprusoff looks on as early chances from Thomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetteberg are stopped by Kiprusoff. Action is pretty good through the period, neutral zone play sure but both teams generating chances in the offensive zones. Niklas Hagamn was a good chance. The Flames kill off a late Detroit powerplay, and the top line of Jarome Iginla, Rene Bourque and Matt Stajan create some good cycle work, setting them up for what would be a big game in the next two periods. Through one both teams, although goal-less, look to be playing well. 11-7 shots for Detroit in the first frame.
Hagman starts with an early chance in the 2nd period. 5 minutes in, a solid play by Ian White keeps the puck in innocently, catches the Wings leaving the zone. Daymond Lankgow blasts the bounce off the back board, narrowly missing a screening Ales Kotalik, and blasts the puck top corner short side. Eric Nystrom soon after misses a half open net. Soon after, an innocent rush by Detroit sees Pavel Datsuyk manage to squeeze around Staios and a puck finds a hole in Kiprusoff, to tie the game. Detroit takes the momentum back, and a too many men on the ice penalty results in a Niklas Lidstrom patented shot, around the block and going wide, and a just-as-patented Thomas Holmstrom perfect tip for the Red Wings to take the lead. Yet another Flames penalty late in the period is efficiently killed, and the Flames go into the third down by 1, after playing a decent period.
The third starts with an odd man rush that Kiprusoff comes off with a huge save. Brent Sutter then starts double shifting the top line, and it pays off. Steve Staios with a great pass to Bourque, who gives and goes in the offensive zone with Stajan. A juicy rebound goes to a properly positioned Jarome Iginla, who slides it into the unguarded net for his 31st goal. Less than 2 minutes later, that line is again at work again, doing well to keep puck possession in the Red Wings zone for nearly a minute…a near chance misses, but the puck gets back to the point, and Robyn Regher’s blast hits a defender, and Iginla’s swat towards the net caroms off Bourque’s shin pad, and gets its final push by Jimmy Howard. 3-2 Flames, and the momentum, and lead, are grabbed back by the Flames. More effective penalty killing by the Flames kills yet another, and finally the Flames get a powerplay. Iginla inches away with yet another laser beam, Howard getting enough to push the puck inches wide of the net. The Red Wings start to come on, but some solid positional play means lots of shot blocks and no imminent danger when it comes to the puck near the Flames net. Another Detroit penalty, and the Flames PP looks again to be doing well, until a White penalty turns it to 4-4 late in the 3rd. The Flames solid PK gets rewarded, as does Chris Higgins for solid work since his arrival; his 185 foot shot into the empty net seals this one. Flames win 4-2, outshooting Detroit 32-30 when all is said and done.
Three Stars
1. Jarome Iginla: Red hot since the Olympics, 2 more points, unlucky not to have another goal. Confidence is busting out.
2. Rene Bourque: Goal and assist, credit Darryl Sutter for his move to first line and subsequent solid play in the last few games with the captain. Without back filling the depth for the other lines, Bourque would still be on the second line trying to spread out scoring.
3. Matt Stajan: May as well make it 3 for 3 for that line tonight. Solid, smart play, along with the skill necessary and thought process to play with a player like Iginla. Drew a late penalty too by driving to the net.
Big Save
Miikka Kiprusoff’s save early in the 3rd period both keeps the Flames within a goal, and buoys the confidence of the team to be able to make the great third period push. Not a great game by Kiprusoff, partially because he didn’t need to stand on his head, partially thanks to solid team defence playing with confidence, and partially because the first goal is usually one that Flames fans expect him to make.
Big Hit
Niklas Hamgan took a beating all night, getting hit into the open door, slashed by Todd Bertuzzi late in the 3rd, and running inadvertently into Valteri Fippula, which had Hagman hobbling off in the second period.
Mr. Clutch
Jarome Iginla. He has to take this team on his back this last quarter, and post break, he seems a more confident player. His increased ability to find the net trickles down to all other lines, both by the confidence, and the decreased pressure by the rest of the roster to try and manufacture a goal.
Odds and Ends
Flames outshoot the Wings 15-4 in the third period. Flames 26-9-3 when scoring the first goal. Being down by 1, in Detroit, and coming back with 3 goals, speaks volumes about the mindset of this team, likely a feat the pre-trades roster couldn’t muster in such a situation. Absolutely massive, both the result and the manner in which it was achieved. Flames back into the 8th spot in the conference. As alluded to earlier, plenty of time to go but this win was big for the most important intangible, confidence. Amazing stat, courtesy of Sportsnet, that Detroit has not been in 8th (now 9th) in the conference this late in the year, since 1990-91…19 years, although they did spend most of the 1980’s in that spot, or worse. Reason 1a that the Flames look to be playing better; all 6 defenseman all within 5 minutes of each other in ice time. The graph plot of ice time of the forwards, were mostly between 12-16 minutes. Very consistent. Staios went almost 20 games in Edmonton between 2 wins, he has 3 in less than a week here. Can’t say enough about what this win does for the team, hope it continues through a hectic March.
Next Up
Next up, the Flames hope to continue to polish their winning ways, a tilt with the Senators back in Calgary. Sportsnet West with the call.
Lines (To Start):
Bourque – Stajan – Iginla
Higgins – Langkow – Kotalik
Moss – Conroy- Hagman
Glencross – Nystrom – Mayers
Bouwmeester – Staios
Regher – White
Sarich – Giordano
