Game Takes – Sabres 2 Flames 1
November 4th, 2011 | Posted in Game Takes
By: Adam Meeks
This young season is proving to be a very frustrating experience for the Flames faithful. Watching the team show flashes of competitiveness while mostly sleepwalking through the first eleven games of the 2011/12 NHL campaign has been a bitter pill to swallow for those who expected much more from a salary cap roster. With the amount of aggravation swirling around the team’s performance, it’s easy to overlook the fact that they’re at .500: not where a team this talented should be, but certainly not the disaster of epic proportions one might expect from the mood around the city of Calgary. Still, the Flames will have to start winning consistently if they want to contend for a playoff birth next spring – and with the arrival of Jarome Iginla’s favourite month, now might be just the time to start.
On The Line
A solid win over Detroit last night followed by a date with a Buffalo Sabres team that has struggled a bit over the past 4 or 5 games sets the table for the Flames to gain a little momentum and nose above the .500 mark for the first time this season.
The Flow
For the second game of a back-to-back, the Flames didn’t look half bad in the early going. The passing was a little sloppy but the energy was there. When Jarome Iginla gave his old pal Robyn Regehr a bit of a love tap in the corner about 2 minutes in, it raised hopes that this game might even have a bit of grit to it. A period that had been relatively back and forth took a turn for the worse when three Calgary players decided to focus on Derek Roy as he steamed into the Flames’ zone, leaving Drew Stafford wide open on the left side. Roy’s pass set up a blistering one-timer that nobody was going to stop, staking the Sabres to a 1-0 lead. 3 consecutive Flame penalties to Sarich, Stempniak, and Kostopoulos left the team to spend most of the last 10 minutes shorthanded, and only the flat-out heroics of Henrik Karlsson kept the Flames in it.
Second periods have not been kind to the Flames this year, and this one was no exception. The Flames finally had a few scoring chances but couldn’t capitalize, and even over a minute of 5 on 3 powerplay time couldn’t get them on the board. Anton Babchuk came closest when he rang a bullet off the crossbar, but it was the best the Flames could do. The passing was sloppy and the play choppy, and the rest of the period turned into a shooting gallery on Karlsson. Amazingly, the man they call the Calgary Tower stood tall, turning aside 36 of 37 shots through 40 minutes and keeping the flames within a goal.
Anyone hoping for a comeback would be disappointed shortly into the 3rd period, when Nathan Gerbe converted a cross-ice pass into a 2-0 Buffalo lead. The Flames responded with a chance of their own, which Matt Stajan launched high and wide. From that point the Flames started to show some life, with Jackman dropping the gloves with Cody McCormick (and winning) and Roman Horak generating two excellent chances that just couldn’t find the back of the net. The Flames finally drew within one when Alex Tanguay redirected a Jay Bouwmeester shot past Jhonas Enroth, but that is as close as they would get. Despite some good chances at both ends of the ice, the game would finish 2-1 in favour of the Sabres.
Three Stars
1. Henrik Karlsson: The guy absolutely carried the mail tonight, many of his saves being highlight-reel material. A shame that what was undoubtedly his best game as a Flame went to waste, but without his efforts the score would have been MUCH more lopsided.
2. Drew Stafford: Dangerous all over the ice. Potted one goal and would have likely had at least two more if not for the hot hand of Henrik Karlsson.
3. Nathan Gerbe: Played a strong game and was able to get himself into the right places at the right times.
Big Save
With the Flames shorthanded and about 40 seconds left in the first period, Karlsson made an amazing save coming across the crease to stop a sure goal from Derek Roy.
Big Hit
This is probably the most difficult part of this piece to write. I fully expected Robyn Regehr’s patented tunnel of death to figure into the discussion, but it failed to make an appearance in a game that was amazingly non-physical. Do the 2011/2012 Calgary Flames actually hit opposing players? JAY BOUWMEESTER led the team in hits in the Detroit game – that tells you all you need to know.
The Goat
Tough to single one player out on a night when so many were just non-factors. Brendan Morrison and Cory Sarich had particularly rough nights, but this whole team needs to attend a clinic on puck possession.
Mr. Clutch
Henrik Karlsson. About the only member of the Calgary Flames who looked like he really, really wanted to win this game. Faced 44 shots and stopped 42 of them, many at critical times. Was the only reason this game was even close.
Odds and Ends
Scott Hannan, Roman Horak, and Henrik Karlsson played well tonight. The rest of the team was……well, what we have come to expect from the Calgary Flames over the past few seasons. Inconsistent at best, downright bad the rest of the time. Can’t take anything away from the Sabres, who actually played a pretty complete game, but there are too many players on the Flames who simply look disinterested………Man does Anton Babchuk ever have a cannon of a shot. He’ll never be a Norris finalist but he’s still a guy I’d want on my team……..Brendan Morrison just looks lost out there. For such a smart hockey player, he just looks like he’s really fighting it this year. Could it be he’s still not 100%?
Next Up
The Flames visit the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday at 8 pm, with an opportunity to climb back to .500 and finish their 3-game road trip with a winning record. Which team will show up; the lunch bucket brigade from Detroit yesterday, or tonight’s disjointed group? The Flames need to figure out what their identity is and stick to it…..quickly.
Lines:
Glencross – Jokinen – Iginla
Tanguay – Morrison – Stempniak
Bourque – Horak – Moss
Kostopoulos – Stajan – Jackman
Butler – Bouwmeester
Giordano – Sarich
Hannan – Babchuk
Karlsson
