One might call it an offensive explosion! Seven goals is the most scored by the Flames this season, who got points from 12 different players tonight. The Flames welcomed Mike Cammalleri back into the lineup and he did not disappoint, scoring a hat trick on the way to a 7-4 Flames victory over the Dallas Stars.
This game had more of a pond hockey feel to it at times and parts of this game were just down right ugly for both teams. But at the end of the day the Flames were able to find a way to win and they scored some nice goals doing it.
On The Line
A chance to get back in the win column and end this losing streak before it gets any longer. Few teams need two points more than the Flames do right now.
The Flow
The Flames came out with some jump in their step and a willingness to go into the dirty areas. With the game only a couple minutes old Cammalleri starts to make an impact in his return. Cammalleri ends up with the puck behind the net and centers to Stajan who is open in the slot, only to be denied by Dallas goaltender Richard Bachman. Not long after Cammalleri is back at it, he fires a shot off at Bachman and then drives the net for his own rebound, the puck comes loose and Jay Bouwmeester fires the puck into the back of the net through a crowd for his 3rd goal of the season. Calgary keeps the pressure on and Blake Comeau gets Star defender Trevor Daley to take a tripping penalty. On the ensuing PP the Stars start to get some offensive pressure shorthanded, Cody Eakin starts causing havoc in the Flames zone, Eakin gets a shot off and Leland Irving makes the original save then sprawls cross crease to turn away the rebound with his pad. Calgary turns the puck up ice, Alex Tanguay makes a nice feed to Hurdler who makes no mistake and scores his 4th of the season on the PP. Three minutes later with the Flames again on the PP Jarome Iginla makes a beautiful cross ice feed to Cammalleri, who pots his first goal of the season and second point of the game. Things would start to calm down a bit as Dallas finally starts getting their game going. With just over 7 minutes left in the period Paul Byron, making his season debut, gets clipped with a high stick and loses his man. Eric Nystrom takes advantage and scores against his former club to get the Stars on the board. Before the period was out the Flames would restore their 3 goal lead. Roman Cervenka, who had been buzzing all period, gets a nice feed from Tanguay in the slot and puts it right past the young Dallas netminder. The period ends to the home town team getting a loud ovation from the C of Red.
Dallas starts the second period by putting some pressure on the Flames. Less than a minute in Jamie Benn side steps Matt Stajan at the Flames blueline and sends it down to Jaromir Jagr in the right corner. Jagr slides a nice pass to Morrow who is right in front of the blue paint and just directs the puck towards the goal to pull Dallas within 2 with a PP marker. Iginla decides he’s has enough of Antoine Roussel and asks him to dance in what ends up being a very spirited affair. Shortly after, a Mark Giordano shot goes wide of the net, banks off the boards, and ends up right on Camalleri’s stick, who fires it past Bachman for his second goal of the game. 24 seconds later Cervenka ends up playing the puck to his goalie, Irving goes to cover it Morrow busts through the defense and pokes the puck through Irving and into the back of the net for his second goal of the period. After the half way mark of the second T.J. Brodie makes a nice play to breakup a cross ice feed, and he sends it up to Blair Jones who finds a streaking Iginla, who has Curtis Glencross with him on a 2 on 1. Iginla makes a nice pass across to Glencross who has the wide open net and restores Calgary’s 3 goal lead. With less than 2 minutes left Calgary starts having penalty trouble and ends up on the wrong side of a 5 on 3 PP. Dallas gets a couple shots off before the period ends but nothing dangerous.
Dallas starts the third on a 5 on 3. Jagr ends up with the puck in the slot and Irving makes a nice blocker save on one of the best to play the game. Dallas would get a PP goal though. After the first penalty expires Mike Ryder circles the net and puts a pass right onto Cody Eakin’s stick, who was wide open in the slot, and roofs the puck for his first of the season. After the goal Calgary seems to slow things down and keep things simple. The game would go back and forth for a bit, with both goalies making some good saves. Then with under 5 minutes left Dallas would start to apply some pressure but Irving and Calgary’s defense would shut Dallas down. Cammalleri would score on the empty net from center ice to complete the hat trick, ensure a Flames victory, and get his 200th career goal.
Three Stars
1.Mike Cammalleri: A great return to the line up for Cammalleri. The hat trick and an assist to lead the way offensively, he played with a lot of energy tonight.
2.Roman Cervenka: A goal, an assist, a post, and a lot more chances. He was a magician with the puck tonight and could have easily had 3 or 4 goals.
3.Cody Eakin: Was a thorn in the Flames side all night. One of the few Stars to show up tonight and play hard in all 3 zones.
Big Save
With the Flames up by 2 and the game winding down, the puck gets fired at the Flames net and Irving kicks out the left pad. The rebound ends up on the stick of Jagr, only to be stopped by Irving, who slid cross crease and smothered the puck before Dallas could try and get back into the game late.
The Hit
In the second period, just as the play is blown dead for an offside, Dallas forward Ryan Garbutt and Calgary Forward Matt Stajan inadvertently collide into each other, sending Stajan flying through the air and leaving both guys in a lot of pain.
The Goat
A win means no goat tonight. I’m going to stick to that even if someone is downright terrible in a Flames win.
Mr Clutch
I’ll give the nod to the Flames centers tonight. Paul Byron went down very early in the first period and did not return and guys like Stajan and Jones stepped up and played very solid games tonight.
Odds and Ends
We should re-name this section ‘I like T.J. Brodie’ because I always feel the need to write about how awesome T.J. Brodie is in this section. Just another solid game for the youngster. He holds the line incredibly well and another strong defensive play leads to a Flames goal…It’s a shame Byron went down so early, this would have been a good game for him to show off his skill…It’ll be interesting to see who the Flames decide to call up now. Horak is probably the most NHL ready but Max Reinhart has been on fire lately…Irving didn’t have the strongest game tonight, but he has played very well since Kipper went down. Young players make mistakes, it was good to see that Irving was able to move past the weak goal and do enough to get the win…Calgary has been taking a lot of penalties lately. Hopefully they put an end to that before it burns them…Bachman reminds me of Vernon. Not so much in skill (Although they both flash the leather really well) but in stature. I had to do a double take when I saw him in the net…Even at 41 years of age Jagr is still a heck of a hockey player…The captain had a really good game tonight. It’s nice to see him play with some physicality, but if he is going to fight I would rather he take someone good off the ice with him…Congratulations are in order for Mike Cammalleri, scoring his 200th career goal.
Next Up
The Flames finish off their home stand against the St. Louis Blues Friday night at 7PM.
Lines:
Hudler – Tanguay – Cervenka
Glencross – Byron – Iginla
Cammalleri – Stajan – Stempniak
Comeau – Jones – Jackman
Giordano – Bouwmeester
Brodie – Wideman
Butler – Sarich
Irving
