The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes “rock bottom” as the lowest possible level or point.
If the National Hockey League were to create their own hockey dictionary they’d adapt that term to something like “on ice futility resulting in a position in the standings lower than or equal to the Edmonton Oilers”.
The Flames reached that point last night with a 5-2 setback in San Jose on a day that the Oilers hung on for dear life in Pittsburgh, winning on a shoot out.
The Flow
Not a bad start to be honest. The Sharks had the expected push from the start, Hiller made a few good saves and the Flames found their composure and a few chances of their own. The Sharks went ahead when little Tommy Wingles tipped a puck cruising through the slot, hitting the top corner, no chance for Hiller. The second goal however was a back breaker as Herdl fired a shot from a terrible angle in the corner, beating Hiller short side. It was a deflating goal that for most teams wouldn’t end their night, but for a fragile team, curtains.
Good push from the Flames to start the second, but they couldn’t find the range on Jones and the game stayed 2-0 San Jose. Through 9 minutes the game had a feeling that a Calgary goal would set up an interesting third period, and perhaps salvage the three game road trip. Then things unraveled when Joel Ward found ice between Brodie and Giordano on a Shark powerplay scoring his 6th of the season, and Marleau through a screen pretty much made the third pointless.
To their credit Calgary had some pep in the third to start again, and this time managed to carry it through the period, out shooting the Sharks 10-6 and closing the gap to 29-27 on the night. The Flames Markus Grandlund took a pass from Brodie and beat Jones high from the high slot on a rush, a goal that was followed up by another quick rush and a Granlund tip wide that could have made things interesting. Instead the Sharks went up 4 again on an iffy goal on Hiller by Vlasic. Micheal Ferland with his first of the season rounded out the scoring with just over a minute to lay. 5-2 final.
Three Stars
1.Tomas Hertl : A goal and an assist, with the goal being a complete back breaker for the Flames.
2.Tommy Wingles : Scored a goal on a great tip shot and added an assist.
3.M.E. Vlasic : The usually defensive minded rear guard had a goal and an assist of his own.
Big Save
With the game literally only a handful of seconds old Melker Karlsson put a puck on net on a two on one that Hiller steered to the corner, but the wrap around attempt by Karlsson required the goaltender to go post to post with a pad. A great save at any time, but an outstanding one for a guy that hadn’t played in a month.
The Goat
Jonas Hiller. The second goal was an absolute back breaker. The Flames were not the better team on this night, but struggling clubs need their goaltender to stop the easy ones in the first period.
Mr. Clutch
I liked Ferland’s game from the fourth line. All kinds of jump, played physical, showed his above average hands and finally found the net for his first goal of the season. Effective player when he’s moving.
Odds and Ends
Honestly didn’t see myself thinking draft position on December 1st, but after another humbling road trip that’s exactly where the Flames are. They won two against Penn State teams a few weeks ago but then went 1-3-0 on a trip. Came home and won two more before now going 0-2-1 on the Pacific tour. Put together that’s a 5-5-1 and not the record needed to salvage a terrible start to the season. At 8-14-2 the club needs to be at least 15 games over .500 the reset of the way, and that record rests on the hope that other Pacific teams won’t get their act together and 91 points in only required. Hope the Flames’ brain trust are suitably talented at math and can start making decisions relatively soon, taking this team further ahead in the rebuild and not waiting on a season that ended a long time ago. … Was good to see Markus Granlund score, he’s a plucky player that would be a no brainer regular if he was 3 inches taller. He doubled his ice time from the Phoenix game allowing him to get into things much more effectively on a line with Jooris and Ferland. The big surprise? He was 71% on faceoffs! Seriously! Now he only took 7 draws on the night but he did win 5 of them and that says something to the effort he’s put in down on the farm. Or does it? All 5 wins were against Chris Tierny, a center that is only 47% on the season. Yes t does, as Tierny’s 47% would put him third on the Flames for face off success. Good sign either way. … Dougie Hamilton looked good offensively last night again, much more actively involved in the play. He was -2 however along with linemate Kris Russell though I honestly can’t say I felt they were paramount in any blown defensive plays in the game. … So sick of talking about goaltenders, but Hiller stopped 24 of 29 shots for a .828 save percentage on the night. Hiller now has a .856 save percentage on the season, and the Flames are ranked 30th in team save percentage at .879. That combined with an 11th worst shooting percentage puts the Flames 29th in PDO at .96 ahead of only Carolina. … The other anvil on this team is special teams. The club has the 29th ranked powerplay and the 30th ranked penalty kill. Clearly when combined they are dead last. Combined they are a putrid 84%, which is insane. Carolina is the second worst at 89%.
Next Up
The Flames come home to take on the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, just what any struggling goaltending is looking forward to!
Lines:
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler
Sam Bennett – Mikael Backlund- Michael Frolik
Joe Colborne – Matt Stajan – David Jones
Josh Jooris – Markus Granlund – Micheal Ferland
Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie
Kris Russell – Dougie Hamilton
Derryk Engellend – Dennis Wideman
Kari Ramo
