I’m Irish, well Canadian, but Irish in family history so luck and bounces and odds really start to stack up in my head when I’m watching sporting events.
The Flames with their knack of coming back in third periods can really mess with a hockey fan taking in games when the Flames predictably get themselves down heading to the third. Logic says they are due to go a long time without pulling another miracle off, but recent experience has the noggin almost expecting it to happen.
Well the noggin one out again tonight with a the Flames scoring four unanswered goals to steal away a win and beat the Bruins 4-3 in overtime on Monday night.
The Flow
The Bruins were the better team to start the game, but I thought the Flames did a great job to settle things down and were starting to push the play when TJ Brodie got his pocket picked on a powerplay and Marchand made it 1-0 Bruins. The Bruins went ahead 2-0 late in the period on a Chara blast and the game really looked like an easy night ahead for Boston.
The Bruins pushed their lead to 3-0 early in the second when Krug flipped a backhander past Ramo, ending the Calgary goaltender’s night. Soon after it looked like the Bruins were up four, when the first shot Hiller faced seemed to have beaten him only to be saved by a review that showed the puck hit the cross bar. Calgary got on the board with a lucky one when David Jones took the puck to the net, fired a shot and had it hit a Bruin stick and flip over Rask’s shoulder. 3-1 Boston after two.
Calgary gets the game tight and interesting within 5 minutes of the third when Monahan shoveled a pass to Hudler who beat a diving Rask to make it 3-2. From there the game slowed right down, neither team had many chances and it looked like it was going to grind down as a tight game, but a loss for the Flames after surrendering the game’s first three goals. A high sticking penalty set up a Calgary powerplay and Hudler tipped a Giordano shot past Rask and the game was tied and heading to over time.
Was that the worst played overtime period we’ve seen from the Flames this season? They weren’t moving their legs, they were stuck in their zone passing the puck D to D behind their net, they turned the puck over. It was awful. So fitting that TJ Brodie took the puck down the side with 10 seconds left and shoveled a lofting backhander that landed on the back of the net, hit Rask and bounced in with seconds left in the game to give the Flames the win. 4-3 Calgary. Crazy.
Three Stars
1.Mark Giordano: Three assists and a +2 rating with almost 28 minutes of ice time. He was the engine in the Flames comeback tonight, although he struggled in overtime.
2.Zdeno Chara: Scored a goal, was +2 and hauled in 27 minutes of ice time; did a decent job of handling Calgary speed
3.Jiri Hudler: Jiri Hudler continues to get the job done, scoring twice in the third to pull the Flames back to even.
Big Save
A game full of some memorable saves including a Ramo stop on Pasternik in the first, and a great diving blocker save by Hiller to stone Paille when he thought he had an empty net from behind the cage. But the winner goes to Rask stoning Mason Raymond with a miraculous glove save under fire.
The Goat
Hate to throw Ramo under the bus, but you can’t give up 3 goals on 11 shots and keep the net in a stretch drive. Add in Hiller’s heroics for the last half of the game and you have to wonder when we will see Ramo again. Louie Erickson was in the running with a -3 for Boston as well.
Mr. Clutch
Really torn between two Calgary forwards that don’t get a lot of press nightly; Paul Byron and David Jones. Both had their motors running, were great on the forecheck and each had a point for the Flames in a game where the club’s top line was faltering.
Odds and Ends
Talk about balanced scoring, going into this game the Flames were a point back of having five different players on 50 point projections for the season (Denis Wideman coming in at 49). That list would of course include Hudler, Giordano, Gaudreau and Monahan. What a story to have a 21 and 20 year old in that list, really explains the team’s success this season. … Will be interesting to see the reaction from Johnny Gaudreau from getting sat and demoted tonight given he and his linemates struggles in the early going. He rebounded with a late powerplay assist, but his first period giveaway was a rough one. A determined player, betting he plays quite well against Minnesota on Wednesday. … Have to give Hartley credit for the goalie change. I didn’t think Ramo had much of a chance on either of the first two Bruin’s goals, but the third one was a little weak. Hiller came in and made some big saves queuing the comeback. … Everyone knows this but that’s Calgary’s 10th come from behind win when trailing going into the third period. I think we all thought that streak couldn’t last but have a look at the calendar, it’s moving into late February! … The Bruins as reported on the radio are 99-1-1 when leading a game 3-0, make that 99-1-2 now. … Sean Monahan picked up two assists in a game where his line wasn’t very good, leaving him out of the mention for game stars and clutch players. His pass to Hudler on Calgary’s 2nd goal was a silky move for a young center. … Have to think Pastrnack is heading for a diving fine after the phantom high sticking call on Johnny Gaudreau. Replays from the building showed Gaudreau’s stick hitting his arm and then the Bruin forward throwing himself to the ice covering his face. Odd. Would be a sad way for Gaudreau to lose the Lady Byng should he be in the running. … The Flames in a playoff race is fun. Every night we live and die with the results of the out of town scoreboard, so imagine being a fan of one of the other teams in the West battling for playoff spots to see Calgary come back and win this one? Ouch!
Next Up
Calgary’s all important four game homestand before the monster 7 game road trek continues with game #3 against the streaking Wild on Wednesday night. Game time 7pm Sportsnet.
Lines:
Lance Bouma – Mikael Backlund – David Jones
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler
Joe Colborne – Matt Stajan – Paul Byron
Curtis Glencross – Josh Jooris – Mason Raymond
Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie
Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman
Deryk Engelland – Rapha Diaz
Kari Ramo
