It was around 150 AD that Greek Philosopher Ptolemy originated the idea that a shooting star could grant a wish. The idea was that the Gods would get bored or restless (possibly watching an Anaheim Ducks game) and peer down at Earth between the spheres allowing stars to slip through. Therefore it was believed that as the Gods were paying attention, a prayer or wish was more likely to be heard and answered.
There was no shortage of shooting Stars on Monday night, especially in the early going, and one could only hope the Hockey Gods were witness to the shellacking that was befalling the Calgary Flames and felt mercy was owed to their pain-stricken fans. But hopefully there is no limit of wishes per night, as the Flames have a laundry list of problems that need resolution.
So if you only had one wish to give, where do you start? A bonafide number one winger to play with Gaudreau and Monahan? A powerplay that is better than worst in the league? A goaltender that can stand on his head consistently to bail out the team? The ability for Sam Bennett to complete a pass to round out his game? Maybe to hit the net once off a shot from the point? Austen Mathews?
Whatever the wish it went unfulfilled on this night. The Flames dropped their second game in as many days, falling by a score of 2-1.
On The Line
With the loss last night to the Hurricanes, a Flames win tonight becomes essential to complete their road trip and even their season record at .500.
The Flow
The All-Star weekend is scheduled for this weekend in Nashville, Tennesse, but Flames fans were treated to an all Stars performance in Dallas, Texas early on Tuesday night. The Flames did muster a couple chances, most notable a breakaway opportunity for Michael Frolik he was unable to bury. But the frenetic pace heavily favoured the Stars as the Flames were lucky to escape the period still tied at zeros.
The second period didn’t start much better. Less than five minutes in and the Stars were up 2-0. First it was Jamie Benn dissecting the Flames as he drew the puck by a block-attempting Russell before sliding a backhand by the outstretched glove of Ramo. A disply of the high intelligence and awareness that last year’s NHL point leader possesses. Spezza would add the second just a 1:20 later as John Klingberg intercepted an ill-conceived clearing pass by Backlund and found a wide open Spezza backdoor. The Stars would keep the pressure on fully, eventually leading 19-4 in the shot count, before a series of penalties gave the Flames some life. But once again Calgary’s anemic powerplay failed to capitalize and the Flames carried their two goal deficit into the third.
Joe Colborne would add his second goal in as many days early in the final frame, roofing a nice backhand feed by Jiri Hudler who had shook off his check with a nifty spin. There were a number of decent chances to tie the rest of the way. But I wanted to highlight a final minute that showcased a couple instances of why the Flames just don’t have the buy-in they had a year ago. Brodie and Ramo did their part to save the game with strong recovery efforts while the net was vacated to save the game. But then with the puck in Star’s corner and their defenceman winding up to slap the puck around the glass, Hudler would choose not to seal the boards and instead give a lazy wave as the puck sailed by. 30 seconds later it was Gaudreau in the exact same spot, also choosing to leave the glass unsealed and let the puck carom out of the zone. When your best players aren’t willing to go all out to win games it’s unlikely your team will be successful in the long run. Gaudreau was able to draw a hooking penalty with 10 seconds left to give them one final chance on the powerplay but it was too little too late. 2-1 final, and another blow to the Flames’ playoff aspirations.
Three Stars
- Jamie Benn: Cerebral talent. His opening goal was a beautiful display of hockey intelligence and extraordinary skill. Great player.
- Kari Ramo: He did his part on this night. 28 saves on 30 shots and left out to dry on both Stars goals.
- Antti Niemi: Very solid performance. One goal surrendered on 24 shots.
Big Hit
Cody Eaken would flatten Dennis Wideman around the Flames’ faceoff dot late in the first but later in the shift Deryk Engelland would atone his fallen blueliner with a heavy shoulder into the chest of Eaken.
Big Save
Three minutes into the game and Michael Frolik was gifted a breakaway chance off a fortuitous bounce. Antti Niemi stayed with him all the way, shooting out the pad to deny the backhand deke of Frolik. The save was big as the Stars were coming of a loss to the Avalanche where they dominated the play but couldn’t get the timely save.
The Goat
Backlund had a pretty strong game, and he’s been one of the better and more consistent Flames during this team’s tepid stretch, but the giveaway pass from behind his own net is a giant no-no and ended up being the difference maker tonight.
Mr. Clutch
Brodie and Ramo share the honor for their desperation plays to prevent the Dallas Stars from depositing the clincher into an empty net.
Odds and Ends
- The Flames wrap up a relatively easy five game road swing with a putrid 1-3-1 record. Heading into the trip you had to believe that .500 was the minimum they could afford, and 6,7,8 or even 9 points were in their grasp. Time is quickly running out and it’s going to take some soul-searching and heavy change in strategy, or personnel over the All-Star break to get this team back into contention. They return home now for a stretch of games against wallowing opponents so if they can re-find the play that saw them set their franchise record 11 consecutive wins on home ice, they could still hang around in the Pacific division a while longer.
- The Stars were the highest ranked team they faced on the road trip, but even they had gone 2-6-2 in January coming into this contest. Opportunity lost.
- Shots were 10-3 after the first in favour of the Stars, later stretched to 19-4 midway through the second. Flames would outshoot the Stars 20-11 the rest of the way.
Next Up
The Flames return home for one more game before the All-Star break, to take on the All-Star game’s host, Nashville Predators. Game time Wednesday, January 27 @ 7 pm MST on Sportsnet.
Lines (To Start):
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – David Jones
Sam Bennett – Mikael Backlund – Michael Frolik
Joe Colborne – Marcus Granlund – Jiri Hudler
Lance Bouma – Matt Stajan – Josh Jooris
Mark Giordano – T.J. Brodie
Kris Russell – Dougie Hamilton
Deryk Engelland – Dennis Wideman
Karri Ramo
