Who knew all it would take was a ticked off captain?
After a listless effort in San Jose, Mark Giordano said it was time to start getting mad at each other. The captain himself, a noble creature at heart, was likely to include some looks in the mirror as well as he had a team worst -15 coming into tonight’s game. They all had to be better and for the final 45 minutes they were just that in a crazy come from behind 4-3 shoot out victory over the Dallas Stars.
The team has been great on home ice as of late, and they’ll have to be red hot on Saddledome ice in the next few weeks if they want to turn impossible math into possible.
The Flow
The Stars jumped on Calgary early as expected, forcing the play into the Flame’s zone and creating a tense first 90 seconds. A loose puck dribbles into the Calgary zone where Jason Spezza retrieves and with nobody open fires a tough angle shot on Kari Ramo. Ramo though, left his post cheating on a cross ice pass that didn’t come to fruition and it’s 1-0 Dallas. From there the Flames settle in somewhat and have chances of their own including breaks for both Sam Bennett and Mason Raymond but neither were able to beat Antti Niemi to tie things up. The Stars double their lead on a tough one as Hamilton pushes Eakin down in the crease and in the process has the puck bounce off his left skate and into the net. Stars up two after one.
The shots were 14-4 after one, but five minutes into the second period the scoring chances according to the broadcast were even at seven. The Flames found their footing in the second and quite simply poured it on. Chance after chance after chance either hit a Dallas Star, hit a post or hit Niemi but none of them hit the twine of the Dallas cage. Midway through the second the Stars went ahead 3-0 when Ramo over committed to the near side and was beat on a wraparound by Janmark. From there the Flames don’t quit and garner another half dozen scoring chances but come up empty.
Give the Flames credit, they didn’t let bad luck in the second period dampen their spirits, they continued the same path in the third, dominating the Stars to an even greater degree. They get rewarded with two quick goals in the third, the first by Mikael Backlund who had three straight attempts in close before finally pushing the puck over Niemi’s pad, the second by Johnny Gaudreau who cruised into the slot and hammered home a rebound to get the crowd going. The Flames come close a few times in the next few minutes including a great save by Niemi on Jones that looked like a sure goal. With three minutes to play Monahan cruises down the left side and then ropes the puck back to Dougie Hamilton who found the seam and rips it home to tie things up.
Overtime featured mostly a chess match, and a key goal post by Benn that failed to clink by Ramo and in for the game winner. More whistles than we are used to, and less blue chip chances from Gaudreau and the gang.
The shoot out is all Calgary as Colborne, Gaudreau and Monahan all score and the Flames complete an improbable come from behind victory.
Three Stars
1.Sean Monahan : Crazy game for Monahan. About a dozen scoring chances, but it takes until a shoot out to finally beat Niemi on the game. Added two assists and looked very much like the March and April Monahan from last season.
2.Antti Niemi : Gave up three on the night, but stood on his head in the game’s final 40 minutes to get his team a point as it turned out.
3.TJ Brodie : Only an assist to show for his 28 minutes of effort, but completely controlled the game when he was on the ice. His third period alone would fill a how to book on big league skating.
Big Save
With the game 3-2 Dallas, TJ Brodie finds a streaking David Jones in the slot who one timed it towards the Dallas cage only to have Niemi slide across and take away what looked like a sure goal.
The Goat
The Dallas blueline as a whole, far too many turnovers in this one and part of the momentum shift that created the Flames come back.
Mr. Clutch
Dougie Hamilton. Was jumping into the play all night, moving the puck well on the powerplay and defending well in his own zone. Great game by the big defenseman, was nice to see him rewarded with the game tying goal.
Odds and Ends
Another tough start for Calgary goaltending. Hiller gave up a weak second goal in the first in San Jose, and Ramo would clearly love to have that first one back tonight as well. Clearly Dallas was favoured coming into this one, and the team was in tough without a first star performance from their goaltender, but you can’t give up ugly goals early as a rule every, let alone when your team is desperate and fragile. … It hasn’t been a banner year overall for Sean Monahan, his point total isn’t bad, but he’s struggled to be an impact player in a lot of games and is almost always on the wrong side of advanced stats. But a night like tonight tells you why the guy is a player to build around when you see him with six scoring chances in the second period alone. Six! You have to have the instincts to be in the right place at the right time to have that many scoring chances. Unreal. … Really says a lot about the kind of pressure Dougie Hamilton must have been feeling when the season started in Calgary. Only 22, the guy was clearly pressing as he was a shadow of who Calgary thought they were getting, and how the player is performing right now. Young, coming to a Canadian city, and then the team itself imploding around him was too much. Complete turn around. Maybe the silly deal for Hamonic will go away now? … I’ve said it before, I don’t like their chances of getting back into the playoff hunt, but man do I love entertaining hockey, and this one was a bucket full of that. Loss in Arizona and the win over Dallas both a joy to watch. The frustration in both California games the exact opposite. Add in that Chicago game and the Flames do look like they have the makings of a string on the horizon, but the improvement of Pacific teams of late is going to continue to push that playoff target up past 91. Will be fun to watch though if they could make a run and get the city talking.
Next Up
The Flames continue this all important home stand on Friday night against the Boston Bruins, 7pm on Sportsnet.
Lines:
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – David Jones
Sam Bennett – Markus Granlund- Jiri Hudler
Mason Raymond – Mikael Backlund – Michael Frolik
Joe Colborne – Matt Stajan – Micheal Ferland
Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie
Kris Russell – Dougie Hamilton
Laddy Smid – Dennis Wideman
Kari Ramo
