I wouldn’t necessarily call it panic.
Scoring has dried up, Goals against have gone up, and the losses have started to pile up. About the only constant has been the superb goaltending of Miikka Kiprusoff, but even he can’t win enough games on his own to keep the team afloat. With a 3-4-1 record so far in December, the Flames find themselves falling in the conference standings and losing the ground they gained in the division on teams like Vancouver and Edmonton.
Tonight, the shockingly good LA Kings and their 1st place record come to town for what should be a very spirited game. But lately, what should be happening and what has actually transpired have been two completely different entities.
On The Line
Its fairly obvious what’s on the line For the Flames. They have lost 3 games in a row and very much want to stop the bleeding. Calgary plays 7 of their next 8 contests on saddledome ice, so getting in to a rhythm early in the home stand will be crucial. Jarome Iginla has yet to score in the month of December and you know the captain is itching to get his name back on the score sheet. As Jarome goes, the team goes. Or so it seems lately. The upstart LA Kings find themselves sitting perched atop the Western Conference standings, ahead of powerhouses like San Jose and Chicago. This will be a tough test for Calgary but a good litmus test to gauge how the rest of the month might proceed.
The Flow
The period started off well for the home side. First, Eric Nystrom had a splendid opportunity on a David Moss feed from behind the net but shot the puck directly at Quick’s pads who made the easy save. The Calgary was awarded an early powerplay, but squandered away their chances with passes when they needed to shoot, and deke’s when they needed to dump in – all around too cute. Calgary did take the lead on a late period powerplay when Dion Phaneuf blasted a point shot that beat a screened Jonathan Quick, with just 1 second remaining in the period. It was Phaneuf’s 7th of the year and first in 20 games and the score was 1-0 heading to the intermission.
Physicality was the story of the 2nd period. Calgary was mauling the Kings with massive open ice hits and hard bone crunchers in to the boards. Aaron Johnson and Mark Giordano in particular were really making the game a living nightmare for the Kings. Some great goaltending kept the game close and it went to the 2nd intermission with the Flames up by a score.
The 3rd period began like the 2nd ended, with the Flames hitting everything in sight. This time it was Pardy, Nystrom, and Regehr throwing their weight at LA. Nigel Dawes put the Flames up by two when he finished off a pretty passing play between Langkow and himself. Dawes snapped a wrister past the glove of Quick for his 10th of the year. However, The Kings were undeterred and clawed their way back to within a goal at 11:06 when Corey Elkins scored his 1st NHL goal to bring the Kings within just one. LA would apply a severe amount of pressure to Kiprusoff and the Flames to end the game and almost tied it up with a last second Frolov shot from the slot, but it was not to be. Flames hung on for a nail-biting, but very fun 2-1 win.
Three Stars
1. Miikka Kiprusoff: Los Angeles fired 35 shots on goal, 16 alone in the 3rd period. Kiprusoff was solid and spectacular when he had to be. Just another day at the office for #34. We should build his name in to the #1 star spot as the template for this write-up, its becoming automatic.
2. Mark Giordano: No points, no shots, plus minus was even, 22:14 in icetime. Why in the world is he 2nd star? Tonight we saw Mark Giordano take his physical game to a whole new height. His bullying of Dustin Brown started becoming comical when Giordano hit him hard not once, not twice, but 3 soul destroying times in the 2nd period alone.
3. Aaron Johnson: See: Mark Giordano
Big Save
Great goaltending in this game. Jonathan Quick stoned Jarome Iginla when Iginla wristed a hard shot from a 2-on-1 pass. Quick slid across to deny the Calgary captain and keep the game within 1 goal. At the other end, Miikka Kiprusoff made a marvelous pad save on Justin Williams when it looked like the Kings forward had a sure goal.
Big Hit
Do Mark Giordano and Dustin Brown have a history? While Giordano isn’t exactly physically imposing, he absolutely had his way with Brown tonight. He hammered him on at least 3 separate occasions causing Brown to retaliate later in the game. Giordano saw Brown coming at the last second which sent the Kings pest hard in to the boards. Brown made a clear elbow attempt on the play which is hopefully reviewed by the league. Aaron Johnson made his presence felt with a huge open ice hit on Kings Forward Oscar Moller during the 1st period. The crushing blow brought the crowd to life and gave the Flames some much needed early momentum. Johnson also nailed defenseman Peter Harrold into the boards/stanchion with a crushing 2nd period blow.
The Goat
Justin Williams. With his team having every little bit of momentum, he took a needless interference penalty with 4 minutes left when he cross-checked a light footed Phaneuf to the ice. Just after the Kings killed it off, he promptly high sticked Mark Giordano in the face which should have ended the game. Luckily for LA, Jay Bouwmeester took an penalty of equal stupidity, which gave the Kings a 5-on-4 chance to end the game with the net empty.
Mr. Clutch
Going to go with Phaneuf on this one. Scored his 1st goal in 20 games to break the draw and had a pretty good night overall. He was clearly relieved to score his goal, and being a streaky player offensively…I wouldn’t be surprised to see him light the lamp a few more times in the coming games.
Odds and Ends
That 2nd period was something to behold. That was the EXACT style of hockey you would want to see the Flames playing in the post-season….hitting everything! Aaron Johnson has an element to his game I was totally unaware of. That guy can hit. It got to the point where I thought him and Giordano might have had a bet going with the way they were dishing out punishment in that period. One after another…man, that was fun to watch. Speaking of the playoffs, if the Kings fall off the pace a little like most believe they should, and the Flames win the division, it is completely plausible that these two teams face each other in the first round. Where do I sign up? I would love to see more hockey like that. LA out shot Calgary 35-24. Jay Bouwmeester led the team with just over 24 minutes on the ice.
Next Up
Calgary continues the home stand with a dreaded Saturday afternoon game against the Predators of Nashville. It’ll be a sleepy crowd with a 2:00 PM start, and you can catch all the action (or inaction) on sportsnet West
Lines:
Boyd – Jokinen – Iginla
Dawes – Langkow – Bourque
Glencross – Conroy -Prust
Sjostrom – Nystrom – Moss
Regehr – Phaneuf
Giordano – Bouwmeester
Pardy – Kronwall
Kiprusoff
