After losing 4-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night the Flames have fallen to a season low. Their record sits at 8-10-1, good for 4th worst in the NHL. The record is the same as it was after 19 games last year, and barring another miraculous run, Calgary won’t sniff the playoffs or even come close unless this turns around in a hurry.
All the talk today was about Jarome Iginla and Brent Sutter being on different pages as far as what’s needed for the team to succeed, we’ll see if they can put their heads together and come up with a game plan…something needs to change.
On The Line
Calgary has to start earning points on this 4 game road trip. They simply can not fall any further in to the standings abyss. Detroit sits in 8th spot in the conference, and would love to shred a wounded Flames team and get momentum moving upwards.
The Flow
Not a bad 1st period for the road team as they matched Detroit in shots with 8. If not for a cross checking penalty from Derek Smith the game likely would have been scoreless after 1, but Tomas Holmstrom took advantage of the early powerplay when he deflected Nik Lidstrom’s shot around Kiprusoff and in to the net.
The second period was much faster paced and started out exactly how Calgary would have drawn it up. Just 44 seconds in, Alex Tanguay found Jarome Iginla blazing down the right wing and the Calgary captain wristed the puck 5-hole past Howard to knot the game up at 1. Then, 2 minutes after that Brendan Morrison slapped a hard shot past Howard from outside the circle. The unscreened shot found its way in to the net surprising everyone including Howard who completely misplayed it. Then it was Detroit’s turn, as they buzzed around the Calgary net for most of the frame after that. Miikka Kiprusoff was up to the task as he made 3 key saves to keep the game close. Detroit did break through once when Ian White’s harmless shot on goal found its way through, but other than that Kiprusoff was spectacular.
The third period was a mess. First it was Tomas Holmstrom scoring his 2nd of the night on the powerplay, then Calgary answered right back with a PP goal of their own. Olli Jokinen redirected a nice TJ Brodie pass to tie the game up. Then with Calgary already down a man, Curtis Glencross took an unnecessary slashing penalty to put the Flames down 2. Of course, Detroit took advantage not once, but twice. First it was Pavel Datsyuk finding the net, then it was Valtteri Filppula scoring to make it a 5-3 games and thats how it would end.
Three Stars
1. Tomas Holmstrom: 2 big powerplay goals to lead his team to a win
2. Pavel Datsyuk: 1 goal and 2 assists and was huge in the 3rd period Red Wing surge.
3. Miikka Kiprusoff: I know, how can you let 5 goals in and be a star? Anyone else in net and its 10 goals. Was incredible during the 2nd period when the game was close.
Big Save
Miikka Kiprusoff was fantastic in period 2. First he stopped Johan Franzen with the blocker when it looked like a sure goal in to an empty net, then on the same series robbed Todd Bertuzzi with the left pad on again what appeared to be a surefire goal. Minutes later, Bertuzzi was alone in front of the net and again it was Kiprusoff turning away the large Wings forward.
Big Hit
Another game with no hitting. Why isn’t Calgary winning games?
The Goat
Curtis Glencross for his 3rd period penalty with Calgary already down a man and the score tied at 3. Directly led to 2 goals and it wasn’t a good penalty at all. He slashed Zetterberg away from the play in retaliation…just stupid.
Mr. Clutch
Tomas Holmstrom was there again to burn the Flames twice.
Odds and Ends
Frustrating game, yet a few positives. The Flames could have won, and played well enough on the road to do so. If it wasn’t for Glencross (and I hate putting the onus on just one player) they likely would have escaped with a point or two. Shots were 30-22 in favour of the Wings. TJ Brodie I thought played remarkably well, his assist was gorgeous and almost scored a goal had it not been for Howard reaching back to stop the puck going across the line.
Next Up
Calgary plays game 3 of 4 on the road trip Friday evening in St. Louis. Puck drop at 6:00 PM on Sportsnet West (HD).
Lines:
Tanguay – Backlund – Iginla
Glencross – Jokinen – Bourque
Byron – Horak – Stempniak
Jackman – Morrison – Kostopoulos
Butler – Bouwmeester
Giordano – Hannan
Smith – Brodie
Kiprusoff
