Game Takes: Canucks 4 Flames 1

April 17th, 2015 | Posted in Game Takes | By: D'Arcy McGrath

When the Flames made their march to the cup final in 2004 there were a few common threads in all four series.

The games were tight.
Martin Gelinas scored game winners.
And the team created chaos in the last few minutes of games they lost. They hated to lose, and never went down quietly.

The Canucks were full marks for winning game two in Vancouver on Friday night, winning the game 4-1 and evening the series 1-1 heading to Calgary for games three and four. But the Flames made it interesting late both with a goal in the final four minutes and a brawl at the end that very much served notice that this series is bound to get physical and even more intense before a victor is named.

Playoff hockey is fun.

The Flow

Pretty much what everyone expected no? The Canucks, putting themselves in game seven mode came out and through the kitchen sink at Calgary. And it worked. The home side scored an early goal when Derryk Engellend blows a tire at the Calgary blueline delivering a two on one by the Sedin brothers and a quick goal by Daniel. Soon after the Flames take a penalty when Wideman comes to Hiller’s rescue to whack a lofting puck out of danger’s way and into the crowd. Soon after a Schlemko ring is missed by Granlund and leaving Chris Higgins to bang home the second goal of the game. Calgary settles things down from there but the damage was done. 2-0 Vancouver.

The second period was also as expected, as the Flames push back with a solid period and numerous chances. Brandon Bollig comes close but ends up riding Lack into the net and a rhubarb ensues. Later in the period Ferland sends Jones in with a great saucer pass, but Jones is foiled by Lack once again. A turn over pushes the Flames back with a three on two but Hudler has his shot deflected wide. The Canucks have their chances too including a late goal post and a deflected puck that Hiller gets a pad on. No scoring, still 2-0 Vancouver.

The third period was a wild one, old school wild. The Canucks pushed the lead to 3-0 early so the outcome was pretty much known, but as per usual the Flames continued to push doing their best to make things as interesting as possible. Calgary scores a late powerplay goal to set the stage for an interesting for their typical finish when Russell gets his second of the series, but the Canucks put it away when Vrbata hits the empty netter to make the final 4-1 Flames. All kinds of shenanigans at the end, which will only help make Sunday night in Calgary all the more intriguing.

Three Stars

1.Daniel Sedin: Scored a goal on one of 6 shots on goal, dominant performance for the veteran Canuck
2.Chris Tanev: Picked up two assists and was solid in his own zone all night.
3.Eddie Lack: Only faced 23 shots but was solid in turning aside 22 of them in front of his dad, who seemed to spend more time on TV than his son.

Big Save

With the score 2-0 in the third and the Flames pressing a point shot results in a tip, and a scramble rebound out to Johnny Gaudreau who takes the puck to the slot and looks to have Eddie Lack out of position for his first playoff goal, but Lack gets a pad on the offering and holds his shut out for the moment.

The Goat

Guessing the answer to this one will be Derryk Engellend given the penalties put down at the end of the night. Putting his team short a defenseman for all of game three is a silly move given the team’s situation with Giordano and Diaz out.

Mr. Clutch

Michael Ferland. I’m not a huge of fan of circus antics, but I’m not a big fan of good losers in intense playoff series either and Ferland single handedly turned a listless loss into a fiery finish, which could pay off in game three.

Odds and Ends

Mixed reviews early for Monahan. Saw him finish some checks in the first period so the shoulder looked fine, but the line itself got little done in the first period once again, just like last night. The trio had two chances in the first, but both times Monahan passed off a potential shooting percentage. Perhaps its a wrist more than a shoulder? Other than that I don’t think the guy is hurt, but maybe pressing a bit. … Hudler though? He’s just not the same player. Could be tighter checking and playoff pressure, but he’s not as confident with the puck and the line is sputtering. … Speaking of injuries, Sam Bennett seemed to get dinged when he took a hit while giving a hit to Edler in the second, and was shut down for the rest of the second. He emerged for the third and had two shifts before getting sat down again when the score went to 3-0. When Calgary moved to within two again he once again hit the ice. So I’m guessing mild injury? Burner on the shoulder? Dinged his elbow? Either way not a great sign. … I must have missed something in the Engellend/Dorsett battle at the end given the way the officials through the book at Engellend. Two for instigation, five for fighting, five for fighting, a ten minute misconduct, a game misconduct and a game misconduct? I’ve seen a lot of hockey but have never seen a player pick up a list like that in one play. What did he do? I saw Hamhuis get into it and wondered if he was the third man in, but he’s not a physical player so I’m assuming he saw something as well. Either way that leaves him out for the next game meaning we are about to get a big dose of Schlemko and a huge opportunity for Wotherspoon. … Didn’t like Richardson punching Stajan when he was down after their fight, that’s a code violation, you just don’t see that anymore outside of movies starring Paul Newman. … A lot of talk about the pro Vancouver CBC team given to the series, and to be honest I’ve been fine with Hughson, Simpson has seemed a little pro Vancouver, but then he could just be anti Calgary given his Battle of Alberta history (don’t worry I asked the Oilers in advance if I could use that line in this game story). … Kari Ramo came in for the final 5 minutes facing two shots. Not a bad idea by Hartley to test his injury and make sure he was good to go. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if he started in game three … Additional roster change I’d like to see? Drew Shore for Markus Granlund. Shore is bigger, more physical and better on draws which would help that fourth line establish a physical presence and contribute. … You hate to play against pests, but you love to have one. Calgary clearly has one now in Michael Ferland. A nasty player with an edge but with the added bonus of being able to actually play the game and fight. Triple threat you don’t usually see. He won’t be coming out of the roster any time soon.

Next Up

Crank up the Red Mile, game three takes place in Calgary on Sunday night. Game time 8pm, CBC

Lines:

Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler
Sam Bennett – Mikael Backlund – Joe Colborne
Brandon Bollig – Markus Granlund – Josh Jooris
Michael Ferland – Matt Stajan – David Jones

TJ Brodie – Deryk Engelland
Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman
David Schlemko – Corey Potter

Jonas Hiller



All content is property of Calgarypuck.com and cannot be used without expressed, written consent from this site.