|
Flames
Clinch Despite OT Loss
with Comeback In Third
Canucks 3 Flames 2 (OT)
Darren
Linn
April 8, 2006
Hey,
they are in. If I had
asked anyone after the
latest road sojourn if
they were happy to just
know that would
happen...what would the
consensus be? I thought
so.
We
all heard it many times
the last 22 months or
so. Lucky, flukey,
undeserved, and
finally... Cinderella.
Well the truth is that
the pumpkin is not going
to make an appearance in
Calgary this year, no
matter what the
detractors may want to
of believed. In a game
that they had no
business being any part
of, considering the
circumstances, the
Calgary Flames dug deep
and fought their way to
a Western Conference
playoff berth. No they
didn't win the game as
they all may have
wished, but they
persevered against a
sloppy start and some
questionable officiating
to fight back with a
stirring 3rd period
comeback to garner the
franchises first
consecutive post-season
appearance in 10 long
years.
On
The Line
Saturday
night...second game of a
HNIC double-header,
chance to clinch a
playoff spot, chance to
remain 7 points up on
Colorado and 6 on the
Oilers, a chance for
"Kipper" to
extend his club setting
win total as a goalie.
Nope, not much about
this game had any
meaning...except to the
Vancouver Canucks. Lose
this one and the
Westcoasters could
virtually say,
"FORE"!!
The
Flow
Flow?
Hard to describe when
the Flames went to the
penalty box 6 times in
the 1st and the Canucks
joined them on 3
occasions. Maybe it's no
more than perception,
but is it possible to
see anything but a
special teams battle
when playing in
Vancouver? The teams
actually matched up
fairly evenly
considering the weighted
advantage the Canucks
should have carried into
this game. In the end
though, as it should be,
the rested home team was
the better skating team
when it mattered, though
they were unable to
score, or really
generate much, unless
the Flames were skating
with only 4 players.
Three
Stars
1
� Ed Jovonoski
Playing
his first game in a
couple months, the
highly volatile Nuck
dman was an inspiration
to his lethargic of
late, team mates. Coming
back early after the
undesirable abdominal
surgery, Jovo scored the
game winner in OT and
was truly a difference
maker for a team that
needed a shot of
adrenalin.
2 � Jarome Iginla.
The Flames
leader was all over the
ice in this game, but no
more so than in his own
end and making great
defensive plays. Scoring
the first goal of the
Flames night on a very
nifty deflection, Iginla
led the charge back of a
tired and depleted team,
after helping them stay
in a position to come
back. Truly rounding
into playoff form
without question.
3 � Alex Auld. Though
he wasn't tested all
that much in this one,
he made a couple dandy
saves in the 3rd when
his club needed him too
the most. As maligned as
he has been through the
year, the truth is he
stepped into a very
difficult position and
for the most part has
helped keep his team at
least have a chance,
though distant, to make
a post season that was
all but guaranteed 3
months ago.
Big
Hit
There were a few good
collisions in this game,
at least in comparison
to last night�s
Minnesota snore fest,
including a Bertuzzi
whammo on Miikka
Kiprusoff. The big hit
of the game though goes
to Anson Carter who
caught Bryan Marchment
along the blueline and
with his head down, and
obliterated the veteran
dman.
Big
Save
Simplest call of the
night....Miikka
Kiprusoff did the splits
and absolutely stoned
Todd Bertuzzi when he
had no business to even
be close to doing so.
The man simply comes up
with new ways to amaze
of late.
The
Goat
A
tie....3 ways.
The schedule maker...
because there is little
justice in having one
team playing it's 3rd
game in 4 nights after
playing the night before
at home and then
travelling overnight to
play in a city who's
team had been waiting
for 4 days.
Greg
Millen....cause he looks
like one. Well not
really, but he certainly
is as interesting as one
when babbling non-stop
about things no one
understands what he is
talking about.
Marcus
Naslund. Mostly
invisible, and certainly
ineffective in his teams
biggest game of the year
so far. Yeah, that is
quite the bargain he
signed for to stay in
Lotusland. Beyond
feeding a wide-open Jovo
in OT...he was nowhere
to be seen and frankly,
looked disinterested
most of the night.
Mr.
Clutch
Ed Jovonoski. Simply
put, without him the
Nucks are already
booking tee times that
they can now wait
another 4 days to do. He
was a difference maker
of the biggest kind in a
game that Vancouver had
to have.
Odds
and Ends
I have said it before
and will say it yet
again. Shean Donovan
just isn�t a good
enough player to
continue to take stupid,
nonsensical penalties
and continue to get a
regular shift. It's
maddening when a guy who
should be the one
drawing penalties on a
regular basis, is the
one receiving them in
the same manner. Shean
if you read this
piece...please stop. It
is going to cost your
club badly should it
continue as it did again
tonight.........Jarko
Ruutu will get his just
deserts one day, and
soon. With a blatant hit
from behind early in
this game, it just
reaffirmed his stature
as no more than a
marginal 4th line player
in the NHL who continues
to do dumb things
without any retribution
from the NHL....Greg
Millen is an idiot,
enough said........This
was not a very good
night for the majority
of "energy"
guys on the Flames.
Other than a beautiful
backhand off the stick
of Byron Ritchie to tie
the game, most of them
were nowhere to be seen.
MacDonald, Simon,
Donovan, and company
mailed this one in.....Kristian
Huselius looked to be
benched for the majority
of the last 2 periods,
which suggests he did
something Darryl Sutter
declares as
unacceptable........Dave
Nonis looks like he is
not ready for primetime
when shown on TV.
Doughnuts are in his
future one way or
another......Anyone else
wonder why the CBC is
using polar bears in
their Stanley Cup
ads?.......Dion Phaneuf
and Roman Hamrlik both
turned in yeoman�s
night of work by each
going over 26 minutes of
ice time...Bryan
Marchment, who logged
over 15 minutes in this
one, is now +9 on the
season. That, folks, is
depth at a critical
position....the battle
of the dot was almost
split even with the
Flames winning
51%.......If there is a
bright side to a loss
against a bitter rival,
it is this. It puts a
whole lot of pressure on
another bitter rival
that wouldn't have been
there otherwise. Oilers
collars are tightening a
little bit after
tonight.....
Next
up � Tuesday
night against a very hot
NAaheim Ducks club.
Lines
-
Huselius - Langkow -
Iginla
Simon
- Yelle - Donovan
Lombardi
- Lundmark - Amonte
MacDonald
- Ritchie - McCarty
Regehr - Ference
Giordano - Marchment
Phaneuf-Hamrlik
|
