The cards couldn’t have fallen any better at this particular moment in time for the Calgary Flames. Having won a couple of games in a row before dropping a contest to the Blue Jackets somehow last week, then picking up a huge win over the Oilers and dropping a tough back to back against the
Canucks, then lastly, a weird 80s style hockey game against the Hartford Whalers, the Flames welcomed another “friendly” foe who they have complete mastery over right now, the
Colorado Avalanche, and a chance to break even on the season to date.
While the Flames came into to it’s game having won 8 straight contests, the
Avalanche have not gone quietly into the night so far this season, so with a stretch of arguably winnable games coming up, a win tonight was key for the Flames to consider any sort of relevance this season.
On The Line
Basically, it was a chance to continue to might climb within the Western Conference and out of the Northwest division basement if they won over the Avs tonight.
The Flow
This one was looking pretty good for the home side early on. Through the first three quarters of the first period, the Flames held a massive territorial, scoring chance, and shot lead over the Avs, but things started to turn slightly before the buzzer went to close the first.
Calgary then opened the second period giving a couple of good chances up to the Avs before Colorado started a picked up the first of two double minor high sticking calls in the game. The Flames couldn’t generate much off of that, but still dominated the Avalanche up until around the 15 minute mark, when Matt Duschene ripped a beautiful shot over the shoulder of Kiprusoff to put the Avalanche up by one. The second would end that way, with the Flames still looking like the much better team, but still down 1-0.
The third period was pretty much the same story as the first two periods until TJ Galiardi took the second double minor clipping Mikael Backlund with a high stick. Now let me ask someone else to tell me the last time the Flames scored on both power plays of a double minor, a very rare occurrence indeed! First it was a slick pass from Brendan Morrison from behind the net to Lee Stempniak who rifled a laser of a shot into the far top corner to even the score, then it was Morrison again chipping the luck to Curtis Glencross for a tight shot to the exact same spot and the Flames suddenly and deservedly had the lead. Galiardi then attoned for his mistake mere moments after the Flames go ahead goal, grabbing a pass from Duschene at the top of the circle and beating Kiprusoff five hole for a very poor goal on the Flames netminders part. But before the period ended Curtis Glencross made a great play carrying the puck through a couple of defenders, passing the puck to Jarome Iginla, who found a streaking Olli Jokinen who buried the game winner on a play off the rush, that is rarely seen by Flames fans. Colorado pulled the goalie, but the Flames made a couple of smart plays to isolate the puck and held on for their ninth straight victory over the Avalanche, leapfrogging them in the West and moving out of the Northwest division basement.
Three Stars
1. Brendan Morrison: The Flames centre continued his strong play since returning from injury picking up two crucial assists to get the Flames scoring juices flowing.
2. Curtis Glencross: A go ahead goal and some strong play creating the game winning goal.
3. Matt Duschene: Duschene is making a habit out of scoring against the Flames. Picked up a goal and an assist tonight.
Big Save
Within the first two minutes of the the third period, the Flames gave up two excellent scoring chances to Brandon Yip, the first where he was left alone in the slot, and Kiprusoff flashed the glove, the second off of the ensuing face off, after thinking they had the zone cleared, Yip created a turnover and blazed in on a partial breakaway, only to be foiled by Kiorusoff again. A sure killer goal if he had managed to score.
Big Hit
Not a lot of hitting in this one, at least legal hitting. But Rene Bourque throwing his weight and Avalanche players around into the end boards certainly merits mention.
The Goat
Not a lot to pick on for either team to be honest. The Avalanche were simply outmatched tonight, and the Flames put together a calm and collected game for the most part. Nothing really stood out for either side other than the Flames finally put in a very strong effort.
Mr. Clutch
Without a doubt the passing of Brendan Morrison tonight was a difference in this game. While the Flames had some trouble early making something out of what Morrison was creating, they certainly took advantage when it was needed most. Very solid performance from the veteran.
Odds and Ends
I feel this needs to be brought to everyone’s attention. Next time you see the fourth line on the ice, wait until the puck, and Matt Stajan are behind the net. The trapezoid may henceforth be known as Matt Stajan’s office of ridiculous passes. Seriously, the guy is a wizard from below the goal line. Too bad he’s a wasted roster spot everywhere else. I wonder if there is a way he could be convinced that the entire ice surface is a trapezoid, and therefore we might have a more useful player on our hands!
The writing has been on the wall over the past couple of games for Roman Horak, and with his strong game on Tuesday night, Brendan Morrison and Matt Stajan were opted for over the rookie, who could use a view from the top to refresh his perspective.
A worrisome trend is becoming very apparent the days around the Flames, instead of being nearly impossible to get tickets to the games, things are returning to the dark days when it was nearly impossible to find someone to buy an extra ticket to the game. The last two contests, I’ve either been offered, taken or refused free tickets, sometimes as many as FOUR tickets, which is incredibly disappointing. I always maintain that you get out of a hockey game what you put into it. Pick up the tickets, and cheer your damn head off people!
Next Up
The Flames bring in another opponent who they have complete mastery over these days, the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. Game time is 8PM on CBC.
Lines:
Glencross – Jokinen – Iginla
Glencross – Morrison – Bourque
Byron – Horak – Stempniak
Jackman – Stajan – Kostopoulos
Butler – Bouwmeester
Giordano – Hannan
Smith – Sarich
Kiprusoff
