Playoff series are a practice in attrition. Teams and players that are willing to go the extra mile, chase down that loose puck, finish every check may not see the proceeds from their efforts in game one, or game two but sooner or later the tide turns and their work pays off.
The Flames have punished the Canucks at every turn, starting in game two and continuing through game four, and are seeing the fruits of their labour with a 3-1 victory at the Saddledome to take an identical 3-1 lead in the series.
The Flames now have three kicks at putting a dagger in the Canucks starting Thursday night in Vancouver. The improbable season continues with the only way the Flames now fail to advance to the second round is to lose three straight and drop a seven game series. We’re all getting tired of these questions I’m sure, but who would have taken that back in October?
The Flow
The Flames had somewhat of a tentative start, with the Canucks carrying the play off the hop and Hiller keeping things scoreless. The Flames get an early powerplay and Johnny Gaudreau hits a wide open cage on a pass from Denis Wideman with the fans barely settling into the game. The Canucks tie it soon after when Henrik Sedin pops a loose puck home five minutes later on a powerplay of their own. The Flames once again on the powerplay go ahead once again, when Denis Wideman wires a shot home just 70 seconds later. Calgary staves off a few tense moments in their own zone, and then closes out the first period with a late goal with TJ Brodie going wide and caroming a shot off of Sam Bennett and into the cage past Lack.
The second period starts with a new goaltener as Lack takes a seat and Ryan Miller has his first look of the series. The Flames played a text book second period for a club with a two goal lead looking to get up 3-1 in a series. They limited the Canucks chances by allowing them the outside, boxing out the passing lanes and keeping all pucks away from Hiller. The period goes scoreless with the shots 6-3 for Calgary. 6-3! Calgary takes their 3-1 lead into the final twenty minutes.
The third period looked like it was going to be a rough one with the way the period started. The Flames started the first four minutes on their heels allowing the Canucks to take the play to them completely. Then they settled in, caught up on the shot clock and were unlucky and foiled by Miller to not put things away with several solid chances. The Canucks mount a late attempt to tie things up including pulling their goaltender and throwing everything at the Flames and Hiller but the former Duck goaltender would not be denied. Unreal finish by Hiller and the Flames win it 3-1.
Three Stars
1.Jonas Hiller: Can’t believe the HNIC guys over looked Hiller in the first star slot. His first and third periods were true difference makers and the type of goaltending that wins playoff series. Unreal.
2.TJ Brodie: So many stories in this series, but I’m not sure a single player has had a bigger impact than TJ Brodie, especially in games one, three and four. An assist, five blocked shots and almost 29 minutes of ice time. Warrior.
3.Henrik Sedin: The man was noticeable. Scored the Canuck’s goal and directed six shots at Hiller.
Big Save
One of those nights where this one is obvious. With the goalie pulled and the Canucks pushing hard to close the gap to one a centering pass with just 15 seconds to play finds Jannik Hansen steps in and wires one only to be stoned by a lateral Kiprusoff like Hiller. Amazing save.
The Goat
Eddie Lack, where was your father? The “Legend” from game two had a rough time in Calgary giving up 7 goals on 35 shots including three on just seven first period shots tonight, getting chased in favour of Ryan Miller.
Mr. Clutch
Jiri Hudler. Goal and an assist to match Johnny Gaudreau’s numbers, as the Flames veteran leader finally hits the scoresheet in this series. So important that this guy shakes off whatever was bugging him in the first three games and becomes a force as he fuels that first line when he’s on.
Odds and Ends
Playoff series are always full of great back stories. Sure you have the games themselves, who scores the goals, the goalie that stands on his head, but deeper than that you have the other human stories that make good copy. This one has the Ferland rags to riches story, that is beloved in Calgary, but detested in Vancouver. And tonight you almost got the Calgary prospect making a return after demanding a trade. Baertschi a player that lacked confidence admittedly added to the roster of a team playing in front of a red wall of hatred? I like that motivation if I’m a Sam Bennett type player, but what a tough way to introduce a kid to playoff hockey. Think the Canucks were wise to back away from that decision. With the visitors losing again tonight, however, we may see him in Vancouver. … It wouldn’t be a Calgary/Vancouver series without a goalie controversy in Vancouver right? With Miller holding his own in the final two periods you have to wonder if the Legend Of Eddie gets a breather and Miller gets a start in the next game. I hope Miller’s dad is in town. … The Flames will be very unlikely to make any line up changes again as the team seems to be really rolling. The top line showed more spark tonight which is a great sign, and were in on both powerplay goals. The Backlund line wasn’t quite as dominant, but solid once again. And the third and fourth lines continued to wear the Canuck blueline down to the nubs with their relentless forecheck. … Wotherspoon looked pretty good again, but only toiled 4:19 on the ice as Hartley shortened both his blueline and his forwards with the fourth line getting only 8 minutes. … Powerplays in the series were 10-7 coming in, but Calgary got 4 of 6 tonight moving the gap to one. The Flames are really winning the series on the strength of special teams, something I wouldn’t have expected given the Canucks’ powerplay prowess coming in. …. If Johnny Gaudreau can find open ice and make finesse plays in a playoff series then I think we can stop worrying about the guy’s height. It’s a not factor for him. … Ferland was credited with eight more hits tonight, including about three on Bieksa as he continues his irrelevant ways in this series. But what really impressed me was his poise in his own zone in chipping pucks out and making the safe play. The guy isn’t going anywhere. … Monahan took a whack on the hand or wrist when he broke his stick in the second period, shaking it as he went to the bench. Came out and played a regular shift in the third period however. Hopefully its fine. …
Next Up
The series moves back to Vancouver for game 5 on Thursday night, game time? The usual 8pm start on CBC HNIC.
Lines:
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler
Sam Bennett – Mikael Backlund – Joe Colborne
Michael Ferland – Matt Stajan – David Jones
Brandon Bollig – Josh Jooris – Mason Raymond
TJ Brodie – Deryk Engelland
Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman
David Schlemko – Kyle Wotherspoon
Jonas Hiller
