It was the 5th and final meeting between these teams, and the third matchup in 23 days. The Flames had won 3 of the first 4, including both in SJ. And a win tonight would vault them over the Sharks and the Canucks, who lost earlier in the evening to the Wild.
The Sharks, frustrated by the Flames so far this year, we’re going to throw everything they had at the Flames in order to get one back. But the Flames had their own designs on this game and they played a fantastic road game, stifling the Sharks, skating them into the ground, playing physically, and generating all kinds of scoring chances. The result was a well-deserved 4-1 win and possession of second place in the Pacific division.
The Flow
The Sharks came out with some jump, trying to get on top of those pesky Flames. And they got an early power play but the Flames had a solid kill and generated some momentum from that. The Flames continued to build pressure and a great shift by the Wolf-Jooris-Colborne line almost resulted in a goal. Gaudreau’s line kept the pressure going and Johnny drew yet another penalty. The Flames actually maintained over a minute of pressure on the delayed penalty call and had a few good chances. They weren’t able to connect on the PP, but a shift or two later, on a 3 on 2, Raymond moved to the centre of the ice and beat Niemi with a nice wrist shot. The Flames pretty much dominated the rest of the period – one of their best this season. They out-hit them 9-8 (which flatters SJ), won 10 of 19 face-offs, had more takeaways 5-2, fewer giveaways 3-9, out-shot them 8-7 and outscored them 1-0. Great road period.
The Sharks came out flying again in the second and had a couple odd man rushes, including a 3 on 1. But the Flames withstood that and, like the first, started to take over. After Backlund won a face-off with some help from Jones, the puck went back to Giordano, who shot it on net and Bouma did a great job getting position and a free stick in front and he slid the rebound around Niemi. 2-0 Flames, 8 minutes into the second. The rest of the period was end to end, fast paced, and very entertaining. Both teams had good chances, but again, the Flames were playing a textbook road game. Gaudreau and Hudler had 2 separate 2 on 1s, but in both cases, Johnny’s pass didn’t get through. He did draw yet another penalty though. With seconds left in the period, several players were banging at the puck in the neutral zone. Monahan banged it forward and was called for icing on a somewhat questionable call with 3 seconds left. SJ won the draw back to Burns, whose shot passed all the traffic and caught the top corner past a screened Hiller with 1 second left on the clock. An absolutely crushing way to end what was a very solid period. 2-1 Flames in a game that could just as easily be 3 or 4 to nothing.
If anything, the third started even faster than the first two. Monahan sent Gaudreau in alone but he couldn’t beat Niemi. Then Bouma hit the post. The Flames had 4 shots and a post, 70 seconds into the period, but couldn’t capitalize. A bit later they got their 3rd PP, and after some good pressure, along with a couple failed chances to clear the zone by the Sharks, Gaudreau hit Hudler in the slot and he buried it, restoring the 2 goal lead. Like the first two periods, it was end to end with good chances for both teams. But the Flames were relentless, and solid in their own end. SJ sent 14 shots towards the Flames net, but Hiller was solid and it never seemed in doubt. With 2 minutes left and Niemi on the bench, Jones did a great job chipping it out to centre and then chipping it down the ice and into the empty net to seal the deal. Final score 4-1 and a very solid and impressive bounce-back win for the Flames.
Three Stars
1.Lance Bouma: Absolutely stellar – as Hrudey said, probably the best game of his career. A goal, an assist, +2, 3 shots, a post, several chances, great PK, a big blocked shot, and 2 hits. He is steadily evolving into a fantastic hockey player
2.Mikael Backlund: Solid in the FO circle, brilliant defensively, solid PK, created opportunities all night – he and Bouma were dominant.
3.Mason Raymond: Skating much better, got the first goal and got the Flames rolling, was a consistent threat.
Big Save
Hiller was rock solid all night, but no saves really stood out, so I am going to give it to Russell. About halfway into the 3rd, with the Flames up 3-1, Couture led an odd man rush up the ice and fed Burns who was trailing. Burns teed it up, but Russell threw out the two pad stack for a beautiful block, frustrating the Sharks again.
The Goat
Can there be a goat in a game like this? It was a great game, played at an incredible pace, with hitting, scoring chances, and end to end action. The only goat was maybe the linesman on the weak icing call that cost Hiller a shutout.
Mr. Clutch
Lance Bouma. He made no mistake when he got a rebound in front of the net to make it 2 nothing. He was money all night on the PK. He had a huge blocked shot late in the third. He was a beast.
Odds and Ends
David Wolf played his second career game, after suffering a leg laceration in his first, and he was an absolute beast, throwing hits, controlling the puck on the boards, and generating scoring chances. Wolf and Colborne were a great combination of size, and really dominated board play together… TJ Brodie, even with all the praise he gets, is possibly the most underrated player on the team. He is, IMO, their best player. The way he steals, and then controls, the puck in his own zone, time after time, against the best players in the league is just so impressive… Backlund had an outstanding game, doing all kinds of goods things at both ends of the ice… Glencross got back into the lineup and was throwing hits all over the ice… Jones had a goal and an assist and another strong game… Russell had another really good game, including a key blocked shot… Gaudreau was a constant threat, as usual. He also drew two penalties. Now that the NHL is tracking that, I am confident that he will be among the league leaders in that category. It just seems like he draws at least one penalty every game… Is this the deepest team the Flames have iced in years? (at least on forward) With the addition of Glencross and Wolf in the lineup, the Flames could role 4 lines that all had speed, size, physicality, defensive acumen, and a scoring threat. They just kept coming at the SJ and the Sharks simply couldn’t handle it… The win vaults the Flames past the Sharks and the Canucks into 2nd in the Pacific. The Flames, Jets, and Canucks are all 9 games over .500, with the Sharks sitting at 8… The Kings moved to 5 games over, with their first pair of back to back wins since before Christmas…
Next Up
It’s down the coast to LA for just another huge, 4 point divisional matchup with massive playoff implications on Thursday night at 8:30 on Sportsnet West.
Lines:
Lance Bouma – Mikael Backlund – David Jones
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler
David Wolf – Josh Jooris – Joe Colborne
Curtis Glencross – Matt Stajan – Mason Raymond
Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie
Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman
Deryk Engelland – Rapha Diaz
Jonas Hiller
