Calgary Puck

Well that was fun.

Not always. The game was more than frustrating through forty minutes as the team continued to cough up odd man chances and deficits, as they trailed 3-1 early in the second and then 4-3 through forty before exploding for six third period goals to bury the New Jersey Devils.

On Sunday the second line carried the mail with 11 points in a 6-3 night, this evening it was the top line with 14 scoring points, six to Johnny Gaudreau with a three goal / three assist split to carry the Flames to a 9-4 come from behind victory. Said comeback is the 8th of the season when trailing going into the third period.

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So much for the goal funk.

The Flames having lost four in a row, with a futility stretch that featured only five goals in that time span score six tonight (empty net assisted) to get back on the win board and put an end to the team’s worst run of the season.

Sure the top line didn’t contribute at all in the 6-3 win but they did get their chances in a walk before you run mantra.

With the win the Flames beat back the Knights who could have been six points back with a win, but now sit an even ten in arrears, and Calgary passes the Sharks back into first though the Sharks have a game in hand.

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You’re not going to win too many games when you don’t score any goals, I don’t think Yogi Berra ever said that, but it’s certainly in his “ball park”.

Additionally, you don’t do well on many two game road trips when you only score once, but that’s exactly what the Flames managed in their two game sojourn into Nevada and Arizona on the last two nights, dropping both games by 2-1 and 2-0 scores respectively.

As per usual, the Flames didn’t play all that poorly, but their ability to generate is down, and their penchant for finishing almost non-existent as they wasted back to back goaltending performances that should have generated points.

The club has a playoff spot all but locked up, they still lead the division and the conference, though perilously now after a four game slide. But time is of the essence, hopefully some home cooking will be the tonic to turn things around.

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A team that prided itself on not losing back to back games in regulation since November 15th has now lost three in a row before the 60 minute horn in March, including a setback in Vegas by a 2-1 score tonight.

Panic right?

Not this guy. For far too long the Flames have been cruising along this season without anything by way of adversity or challenge. They won when they played well. They won when they didn’t, largely carried by a top line that seemed to score a goal or two every single game.

Did we really want that first bump in the road to come in the second week of April?

The offence has dried up, but the chances haven’t. The Flames are still playing an above average brand of hockey but they’re not out scoring their mistakes; last night David Rittich solid and without wiggle room in only giving up two goals.

They’re comfortable in a playoff spot, and they have time to work through their funk. Better now than in April.

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Not often does on see the home side lose by four goals, but actually go away thinking an effort was put in. Usually games like that start poorly, and then things either go individual and frustrating or just get mailed in the rest of the way; patrons trying to decide the cost benefit analysis of wasting time to stay versus the sunk cost of the ticket they wish they hadn’t purchased.

Tonight at the Saddledome looked to be one of those nights on the scoreboard, in actual fact it was a game where the Flames could easily have had a different fate.

Three relatively fluky Toronto goals contributed to a lopsided score in a game where Calgary had the majority of the scoring chances. Without the play of Fredrik Andersson this one could have been a 7-6 thriller, but instead it ends 6-2 Toronto.

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