Everyone else: Flames, the possibility of successfully navigating a playoff position is approximately 3,720 to 1.
The Calgary Flames: Never tell us the odds!
It’s a well known fact, the negative odds that the Flames are currently staring down the barrel of in their attempt to find a place in the Western Conference playoff race, just barely hanging on by the skin of their teeth, but you can’t seem to convince the Flames of their likely fate. So on Sunday night, the Flames were dealt a favour by the Tampa Bay Lightning who gave the Chicago Blackhawks a loss at home, with the Flames looking to make cannon fodder of the Avalanche as they have all season long. But just like this playoff race, this game wasn’t going to go exactly as you might have foreseen.
On The Line
The narrow margin for the Flames chances of making the playoffs means that every single game remaining needs to be a win, especially in contests against teams like the Avalanche.
The Flow
It was sort of like watching previous games between the Flames and Avalanche early on in this contest, aside from the goal scoring onslaught. The Flames were getting good chances early on, but the Avalanche came on strong at various points in the period to pretty much even up the chances, but no goals.
The second period was something else entirely… The Flames gave up two quick chances very early on, and then when Mikael Backlund took a slashing penalty, the chances quickly mounted. Before the midway point of the period, the Avalanche had thrown everything they possibly could at the Flames netminder, and he somehow stopped it all. Kiprusoff elicited the quote of the night, from Peter Loubardias: “Miikka Kiprusoff….I’ve run out of adjectives.” Then on the ensuing shift, Alex Tanguay found Olli Jokinen in front of the net who surprisingly made no mistake burying the puck behind Peter Budaj. That momentarily sparked the Flames but they returned to second period form and relied upon Kiprusoff to bail them out of trouble again and again. Calgary got things a little bit under control in the late stages of the second, and kept the chances down as the period trailed on.
The Flames needed to completely reboot before the start of the third period, and for the most part, that seemed to work for them. The Avalanche appeared to have used up their scoring chances in the second, and after Curtis Glencross was left staring at the roof having missed a wide open net, his misery was relieved by Alex Tanguay who picked up a Jarome Iginla pass and niftily popped the water bottle to put the good guys up by two. Milan Hejduk would eventually break the shutout bid by Kiprusoff, but that was all he allowed.
Three Stars
1. Miikka Kiprusoff: Was simply out of his mind in the second period, keeping his teams playoff hopes alive.
2. Alex Tanguay: The revelation of this season was up to his usual tricks picking up a goal and an assist in the contest.
3. Peter Budaj: Budaj surprised everyone given his performance in this game.
Big Save
To pick a single save that was huge for the Flames in this contest is an impossible task. The performance of Miikka Kiprusoff in the second period was simply astounding. Stopping second chances, rebounds, and making saves he had no business making, it was a god damn clinic.
Big Hit
This game was far more about open ice skating and flow; so while there was physical play, nothing really stood out in terms of a big hit. Although Mark Giordano nearly caught Mark Oliver unawares at the Flames blueline in the first, but just missed.
The Goat
Whatever it was the made the Flames seem to take the Avalanche lightly to start the second period nearly killed their season. Thankfully the Flames have Alex Tanguay and Kiprusoff to save the day.
Mr. Clutch
If it seems like there is too much talking about Miikka Kiprusoff, it’s because he deserves every single word of praise for tonights effort. Go watch the highlights if you missed the game.
Odds and Ends
It was the second game back in the lineup for Daymond Langkow, and the rust was probably pretty apparent. He was noticeable in the first period making some great defensive plays, stick lifts and takeaways in particular, but the physical demands of trying to play 20 or so minutes in a night definitely caught up with him as he wasn’t played quite as much in the second or third periods. He finished the night with just over 15 minutes of playing time and ended up on a line with Curtis Glencross and Tom Kostopolus, logging more time than Mikael Backlund and the miserable Matt Stajan, who clocked in just over 10 minutes.
However this season ends up finishing, as Flames fans, we’ve been treated to one hell of a ride. Granted the first part of the season was something everyone would like to forget, but this surge to even be considered in the mix of a playoff spot is simply astounding.
Next Up
The Flames head home to close out the season against the Oilers and the Canucks. The Oilers are up first on Wednesday night. Game time is 7:30 PM and you can catch the action on Sportsnet West.
Lines:
Tanguay – Langkow – Iginla
Jackman – Jokinen – Bourque
Kostopolous – Backlund – Glencross
Bouma – Stajan – Nemisz
Regehr – Bouwmeester
Giordano – Carson
Babchuk – Sarich
Kiprusoff
