The Calgary Flames entered Buffalo without a win in the past nine visits and in the middle of the a three game road-trip that will end tomorrow night in Toronto. Both teams started fast and were at each other early. Calgary scored first a minute in when the second line tic tac toed their way to a 1-0 lead thanks to Langkow.
Adam Mair knocked the knees out from Craig Conroy with no penalty call. Later in the first Brandon Prust dropped the gloves with Mair and got in a few good shots. Following the first goal Calgary, despite having moments dominating the down low play, succumbed The shots after one period of play 18-5.
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Calgary got plenty of opportunities to go ahead in the second with three consecutive powerplays. However, as of late, the PP is quiet, tonight barely recording a shot on the first two. The first powerplay unit as well generates the least amount of chances, it seems the second line provides the best opportunities, which is too bad given they only get 30 seconds on each PP.
Buffalo didn’t register their first shot until 4 minutes left in the second. Calgary did manage some chances late with Rene Bourque going in on the SH breakaway but Miller came up huge. A few minutes later he made another save thanks to a bit of a little bit luck when the puck banked to him instead of the open net.
Bourque continues to dominate when he’s on the ice, and tonight through the first two periods he had the chance but couldn’t find the back of the net. Calgary as a unit didn’t test Miller enough, only long range shots which he handled well. Maybe a deke or two would give the Flames the lead.
Shots after two periods Buffalo 21 – Calgary 17.
Even though the teams only see each other once a year, with similar records, both teams were pushing for the win. Physical play was high with two fights, big hits made skating room tight, and goaltending made stops when needed.
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The teams traded chances in the third but extra time was needed to settle this high octane affair.
Overtime didn’t solve anything other than solidifying Calgary’s formidable PK. A WEAK tripping call on this year’s bust Oli Jokinen gave BUffalo a full 4 on 3 PP. Calgary killed it off and perhaps had the best chance as well. Kiprusoff stood tall to give the Flames a chance to take the victory in the shoot-out.
The order of the shoot-out went down as follows with Buffalo shooting first:
Connolly – X
Dawes – X
Derek Roy (who acted like he won the Stanely Cup when he scored the tying goal) – Scores
Jokinen – Despite only one goal this year he tries a cheeky move through the legs of Miller and…Scores
Tyler Myers – SAVE (Why a defencemen?)
Which leaves Iginla for the win (who is 0 and 400 on shoot outs) walks in SLOWWWWW.
More shooters needed:
Pommenville: Scores
Bourque (1 for 7 on shoot outs all time): SAVE
Sabres win in the shoot-out and the Flames pull out a point from a very entertaining hockey game. All in all, the powerplay and the top line let the team down who now drop to 11-4-2. Some minor adjustments needed but fans appreciate a good game on the road that ends with a loss but one point.
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It was an interesting second period when the Flames minimized Buffalo’s shots on goal and an impressive OT penalty killing effort. Excellent effort!. Congratulations are being extended to Kiprusoff (for making 32 saves), Langkow for scoring the lone goal, and Jokinen for connecting in the shoot out.
However, the team needs to build on their power play statistics although I appreciated their resilience when they were short handed. There were weak penalty calls one of which the Sabres took advantage of. So, their penalty killing needs to become more effective. The Flames really need to demonstrate aggressiveness offensively, particularly in the “shots on goal” zone.
Overall, it was a good game. Keep it up, boys and good luck tonight! …