This one won’t add to the list of ten come from behind victories this season as the Flames came up short in the shoot out, bowing to the Ottawa Senators 5-4 on Sunday night.
It does however, add more fuel to the fire of belief that this isn’t just a mirage of good fortune. Be it conditioning, coaching, or mental fortitude the Flames just assume they are going to get back into games. You could see it in their body language. Impressive.
The Flow
The teams play back and forth for much of the first period, Calgary getting the first big chance of the night when Josh Jooris bulls his way in for a short handed break away but is foiled on a through his legs shot by Anderson. Ottawa goes up midway through the period when Chiasson converts a Diaz giveaway to give the Sens the lead. The go up 2 on a bank shot with just 7 seconds left in the period. Shots 15-10 Ottawa.
Two more early goals in the second give Ottawa a commanding 4-0 lead, first Borowiecki fresh off some facial bruises from Bollig in the first, and then HOffman with his 24th and this one looks over. Calgary puts up 11 shots in the period, but can’t solve Anderson.
The Flames have to be given credit for their gumption even without the dramatic comeback in this one. Its easy to push when you score three straight and have the juices to finish the job, but its not easy to start down four with passion. But passion is what they had, up 10-2 in shots when Colborne finally finds the net for the Flames to get the ball rolling. Minutes later the Flames score two more within a minute with Russell and Backlund the markers. Then with 2 minutes left to play Gaudreau finds Russell in the slot and just like that all tied up at four. Unreal. Final third period shots read 24-9 Calgary.
The overtime period is unusual for the Flames as there is very little flow as the five minutes ticks by without any real chances to score.
This one goes to another deep shoot out … one that had the Flames in the driver seat and a Schlemko winner on the horizon but the defender hits the pots. Ottawa then scores three straight to win it. Dramatic 5-4 loss for the Flames.
Three Stars
1.Kris Russell: Calgary defender goes most of the season without lighting the lamp, then but scores twice in 7 minutes in the third period in this one.
2.Mike Hoffman: Always dangerous winger, scored his 24th of the season and had six shots on goal for the Sens.
3.Jiri Hudler: Finishes the road trip with four straight games with two points, quite a feat. Tonight two third period assists.
Big Save
Loved the Anderson save on Jooris in the first, but you have to give it to Anderson for a series of saves in the third period when the Flames had five straight shots in about a dozen seconds, the stopper thwarting them all.
The Goat
Not all his fault, but Jooris put up a -3 through 27 minutes of ice time against Ottawa, rough night at the office. He scores through his legs and its epic but he didn’t really get the puck up and it became a routing pad save.
Mr. Clutch
Jonas Hiller. You overlook the relief tender in a game like this, but Hiller stopped all 18 shots he faced in 37 minutes of action to give his team a chance.
Odds and Ends
The Hudler streak is pretty amazing, and extremely well timed. Eight scoring points in four games on a tough road trip without the team’s captain is the definition of clutch. … Monahan’s return to Ottawa was pretty quiet, but he did pick up an assist to keep his points streak alive at four games. He has 13 points in his last 12 games and 7 points on this 7 game road trip. … Speaking of streaks, Gaudreau’s assist on the game tying goal extended his streak to four games as well. … The shoot out loss gives the Flames an amazing 4-2-1 mark and 9 points on this 7 game road trip. More importantly they return to Calgary in a playoff spot, something I thought doubtful with Giordano present, let alone playing 5 of the 7 without him. The Flames now have 77 points and are likely just 9 wins (18 points) from locking down a playoff spot. Can this team go 9-7-0 down the stretch? Two at home, then a single game trip to Denver before an all important 5 game homestand.
Next Up
Home cooking! The Flames return to the Saddledome for a quick two game homestand hosting the Ducks on Wednesday night (7:30pm sportsnet), and the Leafs on Friday.
Lines:
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler
Lance Bouma – Mikael Backlund – Joe Colborne
Mason Raymond – Josh Jooris – Drew Shore
Brendan Bollig – Matt Stajan – David Jones
Deryk Engelland – TJ Brodie
Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman
Dave Schlemko – Rapha Diaz
Kari Ramo
