Calgary 0 St. Louis 2
With American Thanksgiving now come and gone, the Flames move into a critical stage between now and the next statutory holiday. An increase in the consistency and discipline in the Flames game, and, as importantly, results on the ice, have to improve within the next 30 days…or else.
Without a marked improvement in both those areas of the Flames game, legitimate concerns about how the 2011-12 season is going to end can be openly discussed. Until that point, amongst all the angst and hand wringing, there are signs that this team has the potential to be better than the results are showing, as seen in Detroit a few nights earlier, but more then a handful of players have to be “on” for the better part of individual games and the offense has to get in gear and bury the chances they get early. Without early reward for their chances, the Flames seem to wilt as the game goes on, feeling sorry for themselves and losing faith and confidence in their abilities. Hopefully for everyone involved, they get an early start.
On The Line
On the line for the Flames, starting the long and ugly road back to positive consistency and positive results. A good 45 minutes in Detroit was marred by penalty issues, and the Flames lead and chance for a point dissolved as a result. An effort like that, and taking away some of the penalties, even against an improved Blues team under new coach Ken Hitchcock, should be enough to secure the 2 points tonight.
The Flow
The first period starts out more than tentative. Not until the Blues take a too many men penalty 10 minutes in, does the game get into full swing. Following the call, Lee Stempniak has a breakaway foiled by a Brian Elliot glove save. Off the next faceoff, a Stempniak snapshot hits the post and stays out. David Backes gets the puck and out hustles, and out muscles, TJ Brodie down the ice, and scores shorthanded for the Blues. Once again, Flames offensive chances go unrewarded and a single chance the other way puts the Flames down on the scoreboard, and given the fragile nature of this Flames team, not a great start. Blake Comeau gets the Flames next best chance, with a good drive to the net. The puck slips off the stick and Derek Smith follows up. Barrett Jackman coming back slides into Elliot and fairly clearly pushes the net off with intent. Net was determined to be off before the goal went in, but there should’ve been a penalty call on the play, but alas. The first period ends fairly quietly from there, with the shots 9-5 Calgary, 2 of those St. Louis shots were on then penalty kill.
Once again in the second period, the play starts off fairly slowly. The Flames early powerplay is fruitless.The Flames then do get some solid chances from Mark Giordano and Alex Tanguay, but the shots don’t get through, with the Flames players showing that slight hesitation that comes with a low confidence mentality. When Calgary takes its first penalty, things get moving again. Curtis Glencross rings a chance off the crossbar on the penalty kill. The Blues have the lowest ranked powerplay in the league, and although not scoring, the momentum swung with the control to the home team, and that continued post powerplay, when the Blues held the Flames in their zone 5 on 5 for extended periods of time, hitting a crossbar of their own as part of that. The Flames get another powerplay, but the lack of confidence that has reared its ugly head all to often this season after early chances not going in particular games, is in full evidence of a very weak looking man advantage. A TJ Brodie error, playing a forgettable game to this point, throws an errant pass across the ice and that almost results on another shorthanded goal. The remaining 1/3 of the period is a whole lot of scrambled play by both teams. Watching the game, or watching the stat sheet with the 13-4 Blues’ advantage in shots in the period, reinforces the notion that the Flames offensive ideas dry up the longer they go scoreless in a game.
The third starts at a much more furious pace for the Flames and the game in general. A clever Brendan Morrison pickpocket of a St. Louis defender out of nowhere, results not only in a great chance for him and the resultant rebound, but before the next whistle, the Flames have 3 more solid scoring opportunities, including a Jarome Iginla half breakaway where Iginla tried to wait out Brian Elliot in the St. Louis net. After that whistle, Alex Tanguay gets a breakaway himself, and again tries to wait out Elliot, who keeps his pad on the post and foils Tanguay. On the way back down the ice from that, the Flames draw another penalty, so onto a powerplay. Certainly a spirited and exciting 5 minutes of hockey. However, the 3rd ranked NHL road powerplay as of a couple days ago, doesn’t carry through the momentum, even if it does start looking better then the previous 3 powerplays to that point. However the Flames still do not have tangible success on the scoreboard. The Blues are now in full lineup at the blueline mode strategy, similar to what the Flames had to struggle with earlier in the week vs. Columbus. Sure enough, with the Flames outshooting and carrying the momentum, a poor, but harmless, looking pass back into the Flames zone by Comeau ends up in the Flames net 10 seconds later, as Comeau and Roman Horak follow the puck into the corner, leaving Alex Pieterangelo wide open to roof it against Kiprusoff in front of the net. We’ve seen this script far too many times, but that’s the problem of the Flames walking the one goal tightrope for two long, no matter how much they are outchancing and outplaying the opponent. The Blues go into full collapse mode along their blue line and in front of their net, and the Flames don’t get that bounce or deflection that also seems to go against them t pull at least one back. Rest of the game ends with nothing of note, the Flames, out chancing the Blues on the night, and putting a generally solid effort in, somehow find a way not to score a goal and lose 2-0. Shots end 24-24.
Three Stars
- Brian Elliot: Really hard to give this out, as even on some of the Flames better chances, he was right place right time, or had post assistance. But, needed what he needed to to get a head shaking shutout if you’re a Flames fan.
- David Backes: Pretty solid hustle from the Blues captain. His shorthanded goal, embarassing TJ Brodie and fending off Olli Jokinen, is the game winner..
- Miika Kiprusoff: Some solid saves to keep the Flames within a goal going into the third. Save that Flames fans come to expect, but after watching Henrik Karlsson earlier this week, it gives one more appreciation for the Finnish goaltender backstopping the Flames.
Big Save
Miika Kiprusoff makes a handful of deceptively difficult stops and does a good job of tracking the puck as the 2nd period winded down, to keep the Flames within the goal that they needed to feel, as fragile as they are, that they have the ability and to pull it out in the third. They didn’t, but you felt early in this game, unfortunately, that whichever team got that second goal, was going to win the game.
Big Hit
Scott Hannan continues his solid play, with physicality appropriately complimenting solid defensive positioning. Hammers the smaller TJ Oshie in the Flames corner in the second, the latest instalment of his controlled aggression.
The Goat
The Flames powerplay didn’t look horrible, but all the work that’s been done on it in the past weeks due to a horrible home efficiency, seems to have brought down the road strategy and execution as well. Outside of the 1 Stempniak breakaway, the Flames best and most notable chances for pulling the game even a 1-1, were all 5 on 5 or shorthanded.
Odds and Ends
Faceoffs for Mikael Backlund and Roman Horak: A putrid 7 for 24.
Blake Comeau, coming over on waivers from the Isles today, had PP and PK time and 15 minutes total. Looked ok, although the 2nd goal started on his stick and ended with his man scoring.
Paging Rene Bourque? Did he touch the puck tonight? A serious question…for all the finger pointing from fans, at least guys like Iginla, Jokinen, and Stempniak, they had the pucks on their stick and looked to want the pucks on their sticks. Bourque played the quietest 17 minutes for a player that is supposed to be the 2nd in command as an offensive player on this team. Completely invisible once again.
Another head-shaker for Flames fans all around. 2 nights ago it was solid play, but penalty troubles in the 3rd. Tonight, it was 3 breakaways and 2 posts, decent effort, but no goals. Flames now 1-9 this season after trailing going into the third. Related to that, the writer does not like to generalize or compartmentalize trends in hockey, given all the factors, scenarios and situations involved within the game, and between games. (note, I wrote the rest of this paragraph before the third period started) But, the Flames declining offensive woes are fairly easy this season to pickup, if you watch the games beginning to end. Good jump, smart play, and a bit of fire usually gets the Flames some chances early and through the first period. The glance off the stick, skate or post or a good save from the goalie, and the Flames then seem stumped. The offensive push, ideas, and skill degenerate slowly through the second. Toss in a goal against though, and the heads go down. Toss in another good chance that the Flames get that doesn’t go in, and the heads go down further. By the end of the second, the team looks fairly dysfunctional offensively, and are thus on their heels, just waiting to go down by two, as they know i ts going to happen. There usually ends up being a push in the third (turns out, tonight, there was), but the team is always walking that fine line. One gets the notion in many games, including this one, that if the Flames go down by 2, its game over, because the already low confidence is exhausted and the rest of the team, and game, look worse than it really is, as the team is still putting out effort, but more individually, and no longer looking cohesive. Toss in some of their opponents lining up 3 or 4 players along the blueline once ahead on the scoreboard, and with the Flames inability to enter the zone with any individual skill or speed, the results are usually predictable. However take a game last week against Chicago, where the team gets a goal or two early, and the entire dynamic of the game changes, as the confidence buoys all aspects of the Flames, and the jump remains in the step for periods and the team plays well from that point on and doesn’t have to face that wall of blue line defenders the last half of the game as they do when the Flames are behind. The effort tonight in the third up until the Blues second goal, and even after, was completely there even on the offensive end, but after going down two, its a mad, unorganized scramble as the Flames try anything possible to get one of those shots to go in.
Turns out, the Flames followed that script to a tee, tonight. It is frustrating as an optimistic fan, because if you watch the game, and it bears repeating, there were 3 breakaways missed from the Flames, 2 posts, and a good overall effort all game, especially early in the third. But the final finish is not there, and if you see the scoreline, its 2-0 with the Flames shut out and that’s all that matters in the end. The Blues have given up only 11 in the last 9 games, but don’t tell that to those looking to roast the Flames as a team, or as the system, for another zero goal effort equalling not enough “effort” or “desire”. Bottom line is though, one of those posts, breakaways or solid scoring chances HAS to go in, to tie the game obviously, but also to change the tactics of the Blues, and raise the confidence of the Flames offensive players for the rest of the period, rest of the game, and going into the next game. That didn’t happen again this evening, and this team has more navel gazing to do and more pressure mounting on them to pull a victory out of the jaws of defeat.
Next Up
Next up, the Flames US Thanksgiving week journey ends with a game against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. With the Wild, one of the top teams in the league, beaten by the dreaded Oilers, the Flames will have an uphill battle going into the road trip finale. An undesirable 4pm Calgary-time start to top it all off already just gives Flames fans that bad vibe 44 hours in advance.
Lines (To Start):
Tanguay – Backlund – Iginla
Glencross – Jokinen – Bourque
Stempniak – Morrison – Comeau
Jackman – Horak – Kostopolous
Bouwmeester – Butler
Hannan – Giordano
Smith – Brodie
