It’s not playoff time but you wouldn’t know it by the way these two teams hate each other. Calgary looked to take a sweep in their brief road-trip with another win over the Canucks. It would be a tall order for Calgary but the team has been playing their best hockey in the past two weeks.
The game started with towel waving rabid fans looking for early blood. They would get their wish two minutes in when long after a line change Iginla and Mitchell dropped their gloves at center ice for a long bout that saw ripped sweaters and lots of punches. The entire line got involved and all in all 6 players were sent to the box.
Not long after the broo-ha-ha the second line did their dipsy doodling and managed to sustain some good downlow pressure. A funky backhand pass from Huselius set Langkow up for a one timer that went top corner. 1-0 Flames.
The second period began with little fanfare, however, things got heated fast. The entire game was a nice pace (something we never see in the Battle of Alberta these days). Calgary would actually find themselves short-handed early on. It must be something in the flames water bottles cause the penalty didn’t matter.
Langkow broke down the wing for a 2v1 with Conroy. He drew two defenders to him and sent a puck through the defenders legs and onto the waiting stick of Conroy who had the easy tap in. 2-0 Flames. Not 2 minutes after that goal Calgary would record another just after a powerplay ended. Iginla managed to get a shot off from the slot that didn’t beat Luongo, but the rebound was sent straight to Huselius who potted the third Flames goal of the night.
Vancouver came close a couple of times to getting on the scoreboard but the post and Kiprusoff kept them off. If Calgary continues this kind of play they’ll be a-OK come playoff time. The period would close with Hamrlik getting a penalty for closing his hand on the puck and then another two minutes for slamming the gate closed (thank Micky McGeough for that one.)
Third period rolled down with more of the same, but Vancouver looking for the first goal. To make a very long story short, the play went back and forth with Vancouver pressing until ten minutes left in the game when things got interesting.
Phantom Calls Nearly Cost Flames Game
Mick McGeough (however you spell his name, I don’t really care) thought he’d give Vancouver some great opportunities to tie the game by calling some phantom penalties. The first against Lombardi was for a so-called trip that Sedin rolled and fell to the ice on. It was funny penalties started mounting when nothing was called earlier, kind of like a playoff game which was nice.
The parade continued as Tanguay was called for a trip for what looked like a slewfoot on Bieska but replays clearly show Tanguay never touched him with his leg, just a nice dive. Ah well, luckily Vancouver scored on only one of there powerplays all night.
Nonetheless, with one goal to tie it with 5 minutes left in the game things got tense. Vancouver pressed hard for the tying goal and came close with 10 seconds left but couldn’t capitalize as Kiprusoff closed the door. That’s a sweep folks, the first of the season for the Flames on the road. We are now two points from 7th spot, not that it really matters since spots 1,2, and 4 will be taken by great teams, so unless we catch Vancouver it doesn’t really matter where we end up.
Notes: Phanuef missed his second straight with the flu.
Well the flames have certainly turned things around after their awful first 3/4 of March. There was a time their that they looked like they would play themselves out of the playoffs but they seem to have got back to that tight game that works so well for them and they have turned things around.
Conspiricy theory – Didn’t this change in fortune appear after Sutter felt the need to have a little chat with the players in the dressing room, were they listening to Playfair?? You decide.
I dont think it has anything to do with Sutter. i think the team is finally playing up to their expectations defensively. Go Flames, it’s anybody’s cup now.