If you ever wanted proof of fate, luck and bounces evening out in a season you had only to take in both Saturday’s matinee against the Columbus Blue Jackets and tonight’s battle with the Colorado Avalanche.
On Saturday the Flames were the better club from coast to coast, but somehow found a way to lose the contest to the Jackets, while tonight the Flames never trailed and won an important 3-2 game over the desperate club from Denver, though you could easily make the argument that the Avs deserved better.
Bottom line, the Flames took 3 of 4 points, and now 5 of the last 6 on this homestand, very much keeping their hopes alive in the Western Conference playoff race. Mission accomplished.
The Flow
A very tentative start for both teams as a pervasive nervousness fell over both benches, with mistake prevention being the order of the day. Calgary would start a night of good bounces as the puck dribbled around the crease of Kari Ramo but didn’t find its way over the goal line. The Flames open the scoring when David Jones takes a great pass from Lance Bouma to net his 13th of the season, and from there the Flames seemed to get a charge and carry the play. The Avalanche tied it up later in the period when Alex Tanguay, ex Flame turned Flame killer found a rebound in the slot and beat Ramo after a scramble. Calgary goes ahead again when Hulder gets credit for an odd bouncing play from the point with just 15 seconds left in the period.
No scoring in the second period despite the Flames having the territorial edge for most of the period and the Avalanche responding with reactionary rushes that turned into the most dangerous chances of the period. The goaltenders and the goal posts were the show sending the game to the third period with the score still 2-1 Calgary.
The Flames came out and sat hard on the one goal lead, a historic script for disaster in any sporting event. They got caught in their own zone on numerous shifts, they failed to get the puck out with opportunities, victories turned into the ability to just get the puck past center. They refound their mojo part way through the period still up a goal, and made headway on the shot and chance clock, and were rewarded when Bouma tipped a point shot down and put the Flames up 3-1. Easy sailing right? Think again. The Avs bring the game back to a goal margin when Landeskog completes a mad scramble with his 21st of the season and the nail biter finish is assured. Calgary does a great job of limiting chances and keeping the play either to the outside or out of the zone altogether, and the Flames win an important one 3-2.
Three Stars
1.Lance Bouma: Set up Jones with the first goal of the game, and then tipped home the game winner in the third period to continue his improbable career season.
2.Gabriel Landeskog: Matched Bouma’s two point night with a goal and an assist of his own, the most dangerous visitor.
3.David Jones: He hasn’t always earned his 4.0M contract, but this season Jones has been a solid contributor to the Flames fortunes. Scored the first goal and assisted on the third to help alleviate the stress on Calgary’s top line.
Big Save
Love the Ramo save on Tyson Barrie from the point in the first period, but you can’t beat his save on Matt Duchene in the second period when he followed the dangerous Colorado pivot across the crease, stoning him with his right pad. Elite save.
The Goat
Former Flame Brad Stuart and his defense partner Nick Holden both managed to be -3 in a 3-2 hockey game which takes equal parts of stink and bad luck. Good work guys!
Mr. Clutch
TJ Brodie was a horse tonight. He lead the Flames in ice time with just over 27 minutes, had an assist, and won his share of key board battles to get the puck out of harm’s way and up the play on the rush. Could be his best game since Giordano’s departure.
Odds and Ends
With Kari Ramo named starter for tonight’s game after giving up 3 goals on 24 shots to the Jackets the other day, it certainly started me thinking that the Flames see Ramo as their starter going forward. Its almost like they’re bending over backwards to give him the cage and let him run with it. He didn’t play all that well in Denver 10 days ago, played pretty well against the Flyers but he wasn’t great against the Jackets, before being solid once again tonight. Hiller lost to the Blues, and certainly couldn’t be faulted given his team’s inability to light the lamp. My thoughts? I think Ramo is the more athletic goaltender and we certainly saw his ability to steal games on that long Eastern trip. I think Hiller is more stable start to start, but his style leaves him very vulnerable to high shots which is something a team could really pick apart should the team secure a playoff spot and have to match up 5-7 times against the same opponent. Tonight’s win should see Ramo getting the net to conclude the homestand on Wednesday, lets hope he gets on one of those game stealer streaks that anchored the Flames road trip earlier this month. … Another nightmare on the out of town scoreboard, though this time quite expectedly with the Jets playing the Oilers, the Wild playing the Leafs and the Devils playing the Kings, you just knew all three would win. Luckily the Flames squeaked one out to keep control of their destiny. The Flames moved to within 2 points of idle Vancouver, with the Canucks having a game in hand. They still trail Minnesota by 3, and Winnipeg by two (even games). Their lead on the Kings remains at 2 with the Kings having the game in hand and Calgary having the tie breaker. … The Avalanche and Sharks, both losers on the night, are now 8 points behind the Flames and realistically out of it. … I was hammering for change to the lines to get Backlund better linemates in order to balance out the club’s scoring and take some pressure off the top line. How ironic is it that this former linemates centered by Granlund lead the way while Backlund was held pointless? Either way it was good to see some secondary scoring. … The Flames with 86 points are likely 10 points away from giving themselves a playoff spoit, but with only three home games left they’ll need to get it done with their road game, though they are 5 games above .500 on the road and successful to date this season away from the Saddledome.
Next Up
The Flames wrap up their homestand on Wednesday night when the Dallas Stars come to town, game time 8pm Sportsnet.
Lines:
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler
Josh Jooris – Mikael Backlund – Joe Colborne
Lance Bouma – Markus Granlund – David Jones
Brendan Bollig – Matt Stajan – Mason Raymond
TJ Brodie – Deryk Engelland
Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman
Dave Schlemko – Rapha Diaz
Kari Ramo
