Only the late Harry Houdini could boast the ability of getting himself in serious trouble again and again yet finding a way out. The Flames this season have used the third period to come back on numerous opponents, defying logic and the odds over and over.
Earlier this week the Flames were impressive in erasing two melancholy periods to beat the Ducks, but tonight it was Chicago scoring the only goal in the third period to snap the Flames streak. The Flames likely deserved better in the contest, a 4-3 setback, but then had no business being in the game on Tuesday. These things even out!
The Flow
Could you start a period worse? On their heels and listing from the opening face off, the Hawks pinned the Flames in their own zone, peppered Hiller with pucks, and forged ahead by two before the game was 6 minutes old. Felt like a long night at the Saddledome. Then the Hawks take back to back penalties, and the Flames strike on both to tie the game up and make the game a completely different affair. Make no mistake though, this was the visitor’s period.
The Flames were better in the second period, with less running around in their own zone, and more push up the ice. It was a great pass from Kane to Seabrook that had the Hawks back into the lead however, a lead that only lasted 90 seconds before Sean Monahan completed a slick Glencross zone entry and pass to tie things up. On to the third tied up with one of the big boys.
The third, again, was a solid 20 for the Flames, as they out shot and out chanced the Hawks but couldn’t solve Crawford. Jonas Hiller made a gaff handling the puck, banking the biscuit off the boards behind his net and out the other side to a waiting Kane who scored the game winner for the Hawks.
Three Stars
1.Patrick Kane: Simply electric again in Calgary, was dangerous all night with the puck. Picked up an assist on the third goal, and scored the game winner.
2.Paul Byron: Continues his hot hand on the home stand, with a goal and an assist; now has 6 points in his last 6 games.
3.Sean Monahan: Scored his 8th of the season, was even, and had his second straight “defenseman like” ice time load, tracking the likes of Mr. Toews.
Big Save
After the Flames blasted back from a rough start and tied the game, it was up to Hiller to preserve the first period tie with a great glove hand save on a Kane spinarama backhand.
The Goat
Ladislav Smid is being asked a lot. Stepping up to play bigger minutes in a bigger role in back to back bigger teams with Kris Russell out. Tonight he was -3 with 17 minutes of ice.
Mr. Clutch
I thought Dennis Wiseman was solid, a marked improvement from his rough first two periods against Anaheim earlier this week. Relied on heavily in Russell’s absence, he didn’t disappoint tonight in either zone, scored his 8th of the season.
Odds and Ends
Have to hand it to Hartley for bravery in his lineup decisions for tonight’s game. Not much he can do on the backend with the injury to Russell, but taking out two veterans and inserting two rookies on a team that already has a bunch of young players is pretty ballsy against a team like Chicago. The result? Solid actually. Reinhart played a solid 4th line role, shooting wide on a great 4 on 2 opportunity. Michael Fernando was instrumental on the second Calgary goal, screening Crawford, and showed great hands down low cycling the puck back to the point. … Kind of interesting to see the Flames and their league wide known lack of skill own the circuit’s 10th best powerplay, and then pop two more tonight. In reality they have a good group of puck moving, quick footed forwards to go with three very good offensive defensemen, so the stats aren’t a huge surprise. … Ramo was already deemed the starter for Saturday night’s game, which is good as he would have been the choice after Hiller’s third period gaff tonight. Hiller continues to struggle since that amazing performance on the 5 game road trip. May need to sit a few out in a row? … That was the closest we’ve seen to a rolling four lines roster from the Flames in years, as there wasn’t a guy in the mix that absolutely guaranteed they’d get stuck in their own zone. Made for an entertaining momentum game when the Flames got rolling. … Can I talk about the Oilers again? A lot of talk about Flames sustainability due to possession stats, and similarly they’ve leaned on positive possession stats and thrown their goaltenders under the bus suggesting they are better than their record. However, the Oilers have fallen in possession, now ranked 17th and just over 50%, which in weighting means they’ve been well under 50% in the last ten games or so. Oddly Carolina is 10th in Corsi, but just one spot ahead of Edmonton.
Next Up
Only one game left on this home stand, as the New Jersey Devils come to town for a HNIC doubleheader game. 8pm HNIC
Lines:
Curtis Glencross – Sean Monahan – Lance Bouma
Johnny Gaudreau – Markus Granlund – Jiri Hudler
Michael Ferland – Josh Jooris – Paul Byron
Brandon Bollig – Max Reinhart – Sven Baertschi
Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie
Ladislav Smid – Dennis Wideman
Rafi Diaz – Deryk Engellend
Jonas Hiller
