Every game until the end of the season is the next biggest game of the year for the Calgary Flames. But it's also not an inexhaustible supply.
The Flames missed a golden opportunity to claw their way back towards the playoff race last night, but surrendered a third period lead for only the first time in 17 games this season, falling 3-2 to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
As they pause for the Olympic break, the Flames are left with only 24 games to play and trailing Vancouver by six points for the eighth and final playoff spot. Worse, the Flames still have to climb over the still wiggling bodies of Dallas and Phoenix to get to the post-season.
The odds are getting long, long, long and losses like last night will soon drive a remorseless stake through the heart of this team.
Leading 2-1 with only seconds to go in the middle period, Flames Igor Kravchuk cross-checked a Duck's face through the crossbar of the Calgary net, giving Anaheim the man advantage to start the third. On the ensuing power play, Pavel Trnka teed up a point shot, which Turek was unable to corral at 1:29. Seconds later, Andy McDonald, who has killed the Flames all year, put the Ducks up for good on a terrific feed from Paul Kariya.
When the Flames look back on this season they might see their fortunes hanging by the width of a post and a crossbar - the two times in the third period, including an instance with only seconds to go, where Jarome Iginla rang the iron in a vain attempt to tie this game and send it into overtime.
But the Flames pulled zero points from this one, leaving them now 23-24-8-3 on the season, good for 57 points and 11th place in the NHL's Western Conference and only one point up on a charging Nashville team.
If there was any good news from this game it was the spectacle of Iginla, showing he's Olympic ready, with a tremendous goal in the first period. Jamie Wright pulled two Duck defenders to himself and popped the puck loose to Iginla who took two strides inside the Anaheim blueline and then ripped a brilliant snap shot past the left shoulder of goaltender Jean Sebastien Giguere. It was Iginla's league-leading 35th of the season and gave the Flame superstar 64 points on the season, a three point bulge over second place Markus Naslund of Vancouver.
Steve Begin had the other Calgary goal, his fifth of the season and fifth point in the last 10 games.
Turek was average in the Calgary net and Anaheim's first two goals were stoppable, suggesting the Calgary netminder, who pulled himself off the Czech Olympic team earlier in the day due to chronic shoulder and elbow problems, might be hurting a little more than advertised.
Regardless of how it happened, a loss is still a loss
Next up are the Olympics - Flames fans can forget the pain for awhile.
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