Flames 2 Senators 0

March 12th, 2010 | Posted in Game Takes | By: Jason Parkin

Has Calgary finally found a bonafide number 1 line? The recently acquainted trio of Rene Bourque, Matt Stajan, and Jarome Iginla has caught fire just in the nick of time, putting up 18 combined points over the last 3 games which all resulted in a Calgary Flames victory. Three wins of the utmost importance to get Calgary back, albeit by the narrowest of margins, to the 8th and final playoff spot. Three wins in a row and points in 7 of the last 10 are signs that the ship is righting itself and the team is finding its identity going in to the stretch run. In the end, it wasn’t the 1st line leading the charge, as they took a backseat to a strong defensive effort and great goaltending from Miikka Kiprusoff as the Flames beat the Senators 2-0.

On The Line

Two huge points. Simple as that. Turn a 3 game streak in to a 4 and keep the ball rolling with a tough stretch coming up with games against Vancouver, Detroit, Colorado and San Jose in just a 6 day span starting Sunday.

The Flow

A strange 1st period started late, after a pane of glass broke during warm-up and somehow delayed the game by a full half hour. Both teams came out with jump, but the Senators seemed to have the fresher legs. But it was Calgary who opened the scoring on the 1st shot of the game, as Curtis Glencross curled behind the Ottawa net and fed a slick pass out in front of the net to an charging Jamal Mayers, who roofed the puck past Brian Elliot at the 5:29 mark for his 3rd of the year. Ottawa would appear to tie the game a few minutes later, but the play was ruled dead by a high stick which deflected the puck in to the Flames net and the subsequent review could not overturn the call on the ice. The score stayed at 1-0 heading to the intermission. Shots were just 4-4 each in the 1st period.

The Senators came out with all the jam in the 2nd frame, garnering 5 shots in just the first two minutes and applied all the pressure to Calgary as they looked for the equalizer. Things stabilized a touch and the two teams played out a fairly methodical game for the rest of the period with Calgary showing great tenacity with shot blocking and getting their sticks and feet in passing lanes. Neither team found the net, and the shot total was 16 a piece going in to the 3rd.

Ottawa again came out harder in the 3rd. Generating the majority of shots and scoring chances. Calgary though kept with the defensive pressure and shot blocking, taking away almost every decent scoring chance that was beginning to develop. Chris Higgins added an insurance goal with a beautiful one-time slap shot off an Ian White pass. Calgary would clamp down from there and skate to the shut-out and 2-0 victory.

Three Stars

1. Mark Giordano: Flames D-man was a shot blocking machine. No points, but it wasn’t offense that won this game. Defense took it down.
2. Miikka Kiprusoff: Nothing spectacular, but a 33 save shutout nonetheless. Kiprusoff was great when tested and solid the rest of the way
3. Ian White: 1 assist but a defensive monster all game. His pairing with Regehr continues to shine in a shut-down role. +1 for both White and Regehr giving them both a +8 over the past 4.

Big Save

With Calgary leading 1-0 and about 5 minutes left in the third period, Mike Fisher fired a quick wrister off the rush which had top corner written all over it. Kiprusoff flashed out the leather and just managed to knock the puck off path and out of harms way.

Big Hit

Ian White crunched Milan Michalek against the boards in the 2nd frame as the Senators forward attempted to gain the zone by the Flames blueline. A great overall game from White.

The Goat

Senators forward Peter Regin had a wide open net in the 3rd period with Ottawa just down by a single goal. The puck was bouncing after it hit Kiprusoff’s pad, but Regin looked to have the sure goal anyways. He got lots on the puck but drilled the crossbar and you knew at that point, this was the Flames’ game to win.

Mr. Clutch

The entire Flames defense as a whole. From top to bottom, even Sarich and Staios played like this was their last game of the year. Blocking shots and getting bodies and sticks in the way of everything. Not to say the forwards didn’t play their part too, Nystrom in particular…but this one was all defense.

Odds and Ends

Definite turn around is happening. These past 4 games have been an entirely different team than the one that slumped its way through January and February. Calgary is undefeated since Steve Staios entered the lineup. Anyone else encountering how difficult it is to type “Staios”?…you can tell his enthusiasm is contagious, the team has been resuscitated. Calgary finishes 5-0 with the retro jerseys, glad they’re keeping them. The win keeps Calgary 1 point up on Detroit with the Red Wings winning earlier in the day. Ottawa out-shot Calgary 33-25. Jay Bouwmeester led the team with 25:13 of icetime. Its funny, Calgary wins 4 games in a row and they are barely better off then they were 4 games ago, and the schedule just gets tougher from here. Goes to show you just what a fight this is going to be over the last few weeks. Clearly the team has woken up, now we get to see if they are for real. Winning when it counts now would give a good indication of what kind of playoff team they can be. A spot is there for the Flames taking, how badly do they want it?

Next Up

The Flames travel to Vancouver for a Sunday night tilt against the division leading Canucks. 8 PM start time on Sportsnet West and the Fan 960.

Lines:

Bourque – Stajan – Iginla
Higgins – Langkow – Kotalik
Hagman – Conroy – Moss
Glencross – Mayers – Nystrom

Regehr – White
Giordano – Sarich
Bouwmeester – Staios

Kiprusoff



All content is property of Calgarypuck.com and cannot be used without expressed, written consent from this site.