The Flames were 5-0 against teams below them in the conference standings coming in to this game. Dallas entered the contest 7-2-1 against the Pacific division and have been playing better of late. Which team could keep that going in this key Western Conference matchup?
Another, far more dire, trend would come into play in this one, however. The Flames had lost 6 in a row coming in, outshooting the opposition in 5 of those games. And sure enough, they outshot and outchanced the Stars in this one, but in the end, it turned into their 7th straight loss.
Please, bring back the contests where the local heroes lose the advanced stats battles but win the games. This reversal, where they win the stats battle but don’t get the victory, is unbearable. If you can do this, I promise, I will not criticize the Corsi Counters ever again!
The Flow
A pretty good first period for the Flames. They outshot the Stars 9-6 and had a clear edge in quality scoring chances, led by a really nice setup from Gaudreau to Jooris. But Lehtonen, coming off a shutout against the Canucks, was very solid and kept it scoreless.
The second is often the weakest for the Flames and, true to form, they left Benn alone in front off a draw and he made no mistake, outwaiting Hiller. Then an unusual sequence as Bouma tried to generate some energy with a big hit, but he went over the boards into the Stars’ bench. He then got up and threw two more hits, but the 3rd got him 2 minutes in the box. Flames killed that and got a PP of their own. They generated some good chances but sure enough, when it ended, the Stars went down the ice and one shot and in: 2-0 Dallas.
Just when it seemed like there was no hope, the Flames finally got a break. After some good forechecking, the puck found Giordano at the point and his seeing-eye wrister deked and dived and found its way past a screened Lehtonen to make it 2-1 with just a minute or so left in the frame.
The 3rd period has been the Flames’ best all year and they started with some good pressure and several quality scoring chances. But they couldn’t beat Lehtonen. They had a couple power plays, including one in the last minute after Seguin went off for tripping, but the Flames just couldn’t get a crisp pass through for that one-timer, and just couldn’t find any luck banging rebounds. Brodie hit the post with about a minute left. In the end, it ended as the period started, 2 to 1 for Dallas.
Three Stars
1.Kari Lehtonen: Pretty easy choice. He stopped 21 of Calgary’s 22 shots, many of which were quality chances.
2.Jamie Benn: A goal, an assist, +1, 3 shots, a blocked shot and a takeaway. He was a force, as usual.
3.Jiri Hudler: Created chances all night but, like his teammates, was snake-bitten again.
Big Save
The Flames had several good chances to tie it early in the 3rd but Lehtonen made a series of saves, including one off Colborne in close, to maintain the one goal lead. An early first period chance by Glencross could have been a candidate as well, as Lehtonen flashed the leather on him, letting the Flames know what they were in store for.
The Goat
Kris Russell has struggled lately and was the victim on the first goal, not doing a good enough job of tying up Jamie Benn. Benn simply lifted Russell’s stick and found himself alone in front where he had no trouble beating a prone Hiller for the opening goal.
Mr. Clutch
Trevor Daley. After killing off a penalty, Benn led a 3 on 2 back down the ice and fed Daley on the right wing. He beat Hiller with a nice shot, giving the Stars a key 2 goal lead. That goal left the Flames reeling for a while.
Odds and Ends
Shots were 22-21 Flames… There were signs of what was to come very early in the game as Jones rang it off the post and then Glencross deposited it into Lehtonen’s glove shortly after. Brodie hit a post late in the game, and there may have been one or two others in between those two… On a night with little to get excited about, Johnny Gaudreau was a one-man highlight reel (yet again). He authored several beautiful setups, to Hudler and Jooris, among others… Colborne had a solid game, creating several chances with his forecheck and reach… Cody Eakins had 2 assists for the Stars and was solid throughout. He could easily have been one of the game stars… With the win, Dallas is now back to .500 and are now only 5 points back of the Flames with 3 games in hand. If the Flames don’t turn this around soon, they could find themselves in 12th place on a winning percentage basis by Christmas… When Dallas acquired Spezza in the offseason, I expected him to be a real key player for them, being able to get softer matchups playing behind Seguin and Benn. But in the games that I have seen them, he has been anything but impactful. In fact, I think I only heard his name once tonight and never noticed him at all, other than on a couple of faceoffs (he was 62% in the circle)… The Flames gave the puck away 29 times in the game – yes, you read that right. Russell and Gaudreau each had 5 and Hudler had 4. Dallas only had 11 in total… Conversely, the Flames blocked 24 shots, to the Stars’ 11… Flames were 0/4 on the PP and Dallas was 0/1… The baby Flames lost in a shootout tonight to the Rochester Americans. After starting the season with an abysmal 1-5-1 record, they have since gone 17-5-1 and have rocketed up the AHL standings to 2nd in their division and 4th in the conference.
Next Up
Biggest game of the season so far? They are off to Vancouver to play the Canucks. Not only do they need to end Vancouver’s recent dominance over them if they are to have any chance at the playoffs, but they also find themselves 2 points behind both the Nucks and the Kings, and 4 back of the Sharks. Huge 4 point game.
Lines:
Mason Raymond – Sean Monahan – David Jones
Johnny Gaudreau – Josh Jooris – Jiri Hudler
Brandon Bollig – Markus Granlund – Lance Bouma
Curtis Glencross – Joe Colborne – Paul Byron
Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie
Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman
Deryk Engellend – Rapha Diaz
Jonas Hiller
