The good news? The Flames waited as long as they could before bowing out of the playoff race, leaving Calgary fans with only one meaningless game on the schedule at full cost.
The first late season exhibition game staged in Calgary in seven years was pretty much what one would expect given the season now winding down. Low scoring, and a bad outcome; this time a 2-1 (have we seen that score before?) outcome on Saddledome ice.
On The Line
Nothing! The Flames are done, and they don’t own their own draft pick so tanking isn’t even the aim.
The Flow
Pretty much what we’ve seen all season. The Flames were probably the better of the two clubs when it came to carrying the play and time of possession. They cycled well, got the puck out of their own zone quickly, and had chances to score. But all too often said chances were blown, or the cycle resulted in nothing but wasted time on the clock.
Three Stars
1. Niklas Backstrom: The Flames don’t put the fear of God into goaltenders with their pop gun offense, but Backstrom was the difference stopping 27 of 28 shots before going down with a bruised collar bone.
2. Brent Burns: Assist in regulation time, and a goal in the shoot out.
3. Craig Conroy: Picks up an assist in his last game in what will likely be his last game on Saddledome ice.
Big Save
Former Flame Chuck Kobasew beat Miikka Kiprusoff to make it 1-0 Wild but was stoned in his attempt at a second goal when Kiprusoff went post to post to deny a rebound attempt with a pad save.
Big Hit
Robyn Regehr was sent off for boarding on a pretty clean hit to James Sheppard that sent the hulking Wild forward chest first into the corner glass.
The Goat
Same old story, Calgary skill players just couldn’t get it done on the powerplay or five on five in order to find the win. They almost should have picked Backlund, Sarich and Toskala for the shoot out to send a message.
Mr. Clutch
Miikka Kiprusoff as he has been all season. Not many weak goals let in by the Finish stopper this season. Calgary’s most consistent star player from coast to coast, and a likely Vezina nominee.
Odds and Ends
It will be interesting to see how many of the players that suited up in Calgary last night will be back with the team next season. Look for a more prominent role from Mikael Backlund, as the kid once again didn’t look out of place carrying the mail with Calgary’s top “snipers”. He made a great cross ice pass to Iginla on a second period powerplay. … Speaking of Iginla. The biggest issue with the Flame’s captain of late is his failure to get shots off quickly. The one timer has been missing in action for some time, with #12 consistently stopping the puck, cradling it and then shooting; a plan that rarely works against NHL goaltenders. He made a nice move in the shoot out though and looked to have scored before I believe hitting the top of the goalie stick. … For any team to have success their best players have to be their best players. This season only Miikka Kiprusoff can state he managed to fulfill his expectations. Robyn Regehr, Jay Bouwmeester and Jarome Iginla simply didn’t. You can toss the mangled Daymond Langkow into that mix as well.
Next Up
Saturday night in Vancouver ends the season.
Lines:
Hagman – Backlund – Iginla
Bourque – Stajan – Kotalik
Dawes – Conroy – Moss
Sutter – Nystrom – Mayers
Regehr – White
Giordano – Sarich
Bouwmeester – Staios
Kiprusoff
