And just like that, 1.5 months of winning and the Calgary Flames are back in the thick of things sitting in 8th place. At the end of December Calgary was sitting in 14th place and needed to be the best team from that point on in order to dream of making the playoffs. Nobody thought it was possible, but the improbable is emerging, fans are getting their car flags out, and the Flames are playing great hockey.
Watching the game tonite I couldn’t help but notice how the Flames were moving the puck. Their speed and transitions were key to keep Chicago to 3 first period shots.
Lance Bouma contributed his first NHL point with an assist on a pretty pass to Backlund who made no mistake alone potting his 7th of the season.
Calgary didn’t let off the gas pedal and managed to kill off all four penalties when they were faced with pressure. Chicago did score early in the second but that was the extent of it.
Instead, Calgary withstood pressure when it counted and pulled out another timely third period goal to pull ahead. Curtis Glencross snapped home a pretty top shelf wrister for his 14th of the season. Rene Bourque, who hasn’t scored in 9 games, hit the empty net.
Up next, Ottawa, then Anaheim on Friday, before Saturday’s tough tilt against Vancouver. Calgary needs to take the next two games for sure as they’ve played the most games of any team in the Western Conference.
Wow, what a performance last night . It feels exceptionally great to see our favourites in 8th place….and the Flames need to be applauded for their hard work and consistent plays.
– Kipper had conspicuously made magnificient saves – way to go Kipper!
– Congrats to Bouma on his first assist
– Glencross continues to glitter on ice
– Bravo to Bourque for his power play and empty netter beauty!
On a supplementary note, it was awesome to see Iginla’s powerful powerformance and maintain his inspirational leadership. However, of noteworthy was Jokinen’s tremendous feedback. More importantly, the performance of the penalty killers had been outstanding!
Go Flames Go – Fans will be cheering for you the rest of the way!.
p.s. It had been awesome to see Craig Conroy cheering for the Flames from top. Fans love you Craig.