The Toronto Blue Jays season begins tonight, with the Minnesota Twins coming to town for a three game series. Ricky Romero takes the hill for the Jays while… wait what?
Believe it or not there is, in fact, more to life than hockey (and no, I’m not talking about baseball…). With the Flames season hanging in the balance, the return of Daymond Langkow to the Flames line up 376 days after being hit in the neck with a puck quickly puts things in perspective. After a serious set back during training camp there was speculation that the 34 year old veteran may never play again. Seeing number twenty two back in the line up is a bright light during otherwise dark days.
Jarome iginla scoring his 1000th career point – well that’s simply awesome.
On The Line
It’s quite simple. A win keeps Calgary in the conversation, despite needing all kinds of help from the out of town scoreboard. A loss on the other hand, wouldn’t mathematically eliminate the Flames but with the Blackhawks winning tonight even the most faithful fan will start looking forward to what will be a long and interesting off season.
The Flow
You would think a team fighting for their playoff lives would come out with some serious fire under their ass but to Flames fans chagrin, St. Louis was the more determined team in the first period. The visitors generated a few scoring chances early but were generally outworked by a Blues team playing only for pride. A Calgary too many men penalty yielded the game’s first goal. David Backes lined up a point shot that appeared to be going in, until Kiprusoff pulled a Houdini and cleared the rolling puck from behind him. Unfortunately it landed directly on Matt D’Agostini’s stick and he shot it into a wide open cage. The home team skated off with a 1 – 0 lead.
While it took twenty minutes, the Flames finally woke up and came out playing desperate hockey in the second period. An early powerplay generated several great scoring chances but two amazing saves by Jaroslav Halak must have garnered many face palms from the Flames and their faithful. Sweet passing led to a brilliant chance for Curtis Glencross but the Slovakian goaltender read the play perfectly. Shortly afterwards Iginla redirected a shot from Giordano but once again Halak was able to squeeze the pads. The Blues would then jump to a two goal lead on a Backes goal, who buried a feed from newcomer Kevin Shattenkirk. It was short lived, however, as just over a minute later Iginla took a Tanguay pass and buried a backhand high on the blocker side. A scary moment late in the second as Barrett Jackman delivered a mean crosscheck on Daymond Langkow. Fortunately, the tough as nails forward was not hurt. A good sign going forward.
Scoreboard watching may have deflated the Flames slightly, because the Flames once again came out in the third looking tentative. They generated few chances in the early going until the Iginla Tanguay duo took things into their own hands. Eight minutes in, on a two on one, Alex fed the captain and naturally Halak expected Iginla to shoot. Instead he returned the pass to his wingman who had nothing but net. It was some kind of goal. Now sitting at 999 points, the Flames all time leading scorer seemed destined to reach yet another milestone, and he would with five minutes left. Once again it was Tanguay who fed the captain on a partial breakaway, who made no mistake with a beautiful shot on the far side. It garnered a deserving “yeah baby” from Peter Maher and would be the game winning goal.
Three Stars
- First Star Name: Jarome Iginla
- Second Star Name: David Backes
- Third Star Name: Alex Tanguay
Big Save
During a second period powerplay, with the Blues holding a one goal lead, Jaroslav Halak made two brilliant saves to keep the home side on top. First he robbed Glencross on a tic tac toe, and less than thirty seconds later shut the door on an Iginla tip that appeared to have him fooled.
Big Hit
No highlight reel hits tonight, but Mark Giordano was by far the most physical player, leading all skaters with 5 hits.
The Goat
The Flames powerplay. After being so good down the stretch, it went 0 – 5 in the most important game of the season.
Mr. Clutch
Jarome freaking Iginla. Suffice to say he is the most clutch player in Flames history. Kudos to the captain on his accomplishments.
Odds and Ends
With the win the Flames remain 3 points behind the Blackhawks with just 3 games remaining. Playoff hopes are fading but not dead… Daymond Langkow didn’t take his first shift until almost five minutes in. He looked cautious but as the game progressed he appeared more and more comfortable and was taking regular shifts by the second period. He finished the game with 14:56 of ice time. I am glad there were no children present in the room when he was hit from behind by Barrett Jackman… Jarome Iginla becomes the 77th player in NHL history to score 1000 points. He is one goal away from 40, a milestone he has reached three times before. Tonight was his 7th three point night of the season and also his 7th multi goal game… T.J. Oshie returned to the Blues line up after being suspended by the Blues for missing practice… Calgary’s record improves to 13-5-2 against the Central Division… Can’t explain how happy I was to see Daymond Langkow back in Flames silks, let alone how well he played. Just a great story. Rivalry aside, all the best to Manny Malholtra as he recovers from eye surgery that could jeopardize his NHL career.
Next Up
The Flames play their final road game of the regular season Sunday night against the lowly Avalanche. Another must win, the puck drops at 6 PM on Sportsnet West.
Lines (To Start):
Tanguay – Backlund – Iginla
Glencross- Jokinen – Bourque
Kostopolous- Stajan- Jackman
Bouwma- Langkow – Nemisz
Regehr – Bouwmeester
Giordano – Carson
Sarich – Babchuk
Kiprusoff
