A team on a 6-3-1 run could feel good about themselves, you could argue they should feel good about themselves.
Yet this team just can’t. Start the season in a hole and you don’t have the luxury to rest on your laurels, you just have to keep on digging. String wins together, find points in games where you don’t play well, make sure you find two points in games where you do have the edge and just keep chipping away.
The Flames found a way to get a point in Brooklyn on Monday, then got ahead and secured two points against the Leafs on Wednesday, but they had to keep it going. So a shoot out win over the Wild on Friday night was a great result for a team looking to climb back into the mix in the Western Conference standings.
With two points the Flames move back into a playoff spot, though their games played statistics suggest they still have some work to do. It’s coming, but more work is ahead. One step at a time.
The Flow
Good start for the Flames, at least for the first three or so minutes, as they carried the play and had a few chances off the hop. The Wild struck first though, a floater towards the slot tipped in by Stewart to give the Wild a 1-0 lead and put the Flames on their heels for a few minutes. The Flames got on even terms though when Kris Verteeg took a rebound off of a Jyrki Jokipakka shot and backhanded past Dubnyk to tie the score at 1-1. A minute later the Flames went ahead when Mikael Backlund cruised through the slot behind Dubnyk retrieving a loose puck and backhanding into the open cage, 2-1 Flames.
The second was a scoreless period with the Flames sort of on their heels and sort of playing smart defence. By the eye test I’d give the edge to the Wild but not by a large margin as both teams were careful but not really outplayed. Most of the period was played in the Flame’s zone but Chad Johnson was square to the puck making even difficult saves look easy as he kept the club’s lead into the third.
The Flames had chances to add to their lead in the third, in fact several off the top of the period but were denied. Seemed like the Backlund line with Michael Frolik and Matthew Tkachuk were dangerous every time they were on the ice but couldn’t find that put away goal to make the rest of the period academic. The Flames fail to put it away and predictably pay for it when Wild captain Mikko Koivu scores the tying goal 8 minutes into the period, game tied 1-1. The Flames take two late penalties making things tense for the homes side to hang on for the tie but they manage to muck it out to the finish and secure the tie.
The overtime starts with the Flames on a 4 on 3 powerplay and all kinds of chances to put things away. A goal mouth scramble comes close but Dubnyk holds strong and keeps the game tied. A minute later it looks like Michael Frolik has the winner but a Wild defenseman gets in the way keeping things all squared.
The game goes to a shoot out with both Kris Versteeg and Sean Monahan scoring goals and the Flames take it in gimmick play, 3-2 Calgary in the end.
Possession Pulse
First Period – Shot attempted tied at 14-14 in the first period, scoring chances 6-1 Calgary.
Second Period – Still not a big gap in corsi as the five on five shot attempts in the second registered 13-12 Minnesota, scoring chances 3-2 Wild.
Third Period – Third period more of the same as the shot attempts were 16-15 for the Flames, scoring chances 5-4 Wild.
The Players – Big night for the Backlund line as he Frolik and Tkachuk were all 64% or better five on five with Frolik leading the way at 74%. Other Flames with strong games included Dougie Hamilton at 68% and Mark Giordano at 63%. Sam Bennett had a rough night at only 22%, while the top line with Monahan, Versteeg and Brouwer were all south of 40%.
1. Mikael Backlund:Scores the club’s 2nd goal, led all forwards with ice time 22 minutes, a horse!
2. Jared “big fish” Spurgeon: Assisted on both Wild goals on the night.
3. Mark Giordano:Led all skaters with 26 plus minutes and chipped in an assist on the Flames second goal.
Big Save
Jared Spurgeon was all over the puck when he slid in front of a Michael Frolik offering in overtime with his goaltender Devan Dubnyk out of positon and flailing left of the cage.
The Goat
Not really a goat like game, but you have to give Matthew Tkachuk credit for trying, taking two third period penalties, both in a 2-2 tie.
Mr. Clutch
Chad Johnson. He was good, maybe not game star good, but solid in picking up another big win for the home side tonight. His run of backstop goaltending has been huge in getting his team back into the mix in the West.
Odds and Ends
For the first time in a few games the Flames made zero roster changes for tonight’s game from the goaltender to the defense pairings to the four fourward lines. With Mark Jankowski optioned back to Stockton and Hunter Shinkaruk sitting out along with Brett Kulak the club is rolling with what worked against the Leafs. … Final thought on the Leafs game. Generally I have a feel for how a period went and then you look into things like shot attempts and scoring chances and the summaries are somewhat close to what you think you saw. That would include the obvious case of a period dominated by one team or another but other times you hear or see the shot clock in a game but think the other team actually carried the play soon to find the scoring chances show exactly that. So to see a final scoring chance total of 31 for the Leafs was somewhat puzzling. It just didn’t match the eye test for me. I think the Flames got up early and then had the better of the play in the second, but definetly sat back in the third. But 31 scoring chances? For the record the 5 on 5 scoring chances were 20 to 16 for Toronto, much closer to what I saw but maybe still high for both teams. … Funny how teams have a reputation or feel that they can never divorce no matter how many players or coaches change. The Minnesota Wild at the Saddledome will always be a tough ticket to move if you can’t make the game. The team name just seems to carry the idea of getting an early lead and then suffocating the play to try and eek out a win. Unfair? Probably, but we all have it … Another Sean Monahan assist, sure he’s not carrying the play but producing has to help the kid remove the anvil from his back. Points in three straight games and the shoot out winner may go a long way to get the player back to who he is or should be. … Had no idea how much skill was in the arsenal of Kris Versteeg. Another goal tonight, plus a shoot out goal to boot. The guy can straight out play. The Oilers have done well this season, they may not miss him, but he’s looked good in Calgary thus far…. Another game and another solid Chad Johnson start. The guy has ice in his veins. No chance on the two that beat him, and another night of not overreacting to anything, a great technical goaltender.
Next Up
The Flames host the Ducks on Sunday night at the Saddledome, game time 7.30pm on Sportsnet.
Lines:
Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik
Versteeg – Monahan – Brouwer
Bennett – Stajan – Chiasson
Ferland – Hamilton – Hathaway
Giordano – Hamilton
Brodie – Hamilton
Jokipakka – Engelland
Johnson
