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The Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs took to the ice last night for the first game since February 14th, 2012 when Calgary walked away with a 5-1 win.
Between the two clubs, Toronto had a poor record coming into the game as the last time they have won at the Saddledome was in December of 2002. That said, the Leafs were coming off a game the previous night against the Edmonton Oilers and were expected to be a little tired from their road trip – advantage Calgary.
As the game took off, both teams got right into the mix throwing pucks on net and some physical play. What the Flames were likely keeping focus on during the game was Phil Kessel who has been hot of late as one of the league leading scorers.
“First, before trying to stop him, we will try to contain him,” said Bob Hartley “We’ve watched quite a few of the Leafs games in the past week. He’s been very impressive. He’s been very dominant.”
It would be the Leafs to open the scoring nearly half way through the first period after Joffrey Lupul jumped on a rebound just moments after the Flames penalty had expired. Despite plenty of shots(15 in the 1st period) and chances for the home team, Toronto would add another from a shorthanded goal by James van Riemsdyk with only four seconds remaining in the first.
Going into the second period down two goals, in spite of the fact that the Flames doubled the Leafs in shots, Calgary would continue to fight and as a result would eventually be rewarded with a goal from Matt Stajan who beat a blinded Jon Bernier and cut the lead to one goal. That said, the second period in general was rather one sided I felt. Calgary had far more opportunities to put a goal or two away, but were ultimately blanked by Bernier time and time again. In fact, after 40 minutes of play, the shots were 35-15 in favor of the Flames.
Whether analysts want to point out that the scoring chances were not, for the most part, of high quality, allowing so many shots on net and giving up as many turnovers as the Leafs did begs the question – how long will they be able to endure this style of play until it catches up to them?
Moving into the third, it would be none other than Mason Raymond who would provide the Leafs with a two goal lead for the second time in the night. After a sloppy play by defenseman TJ Brodie which led to a partial break for Leafs David Clarkson, Raymond would sneak the rebound in past Karri Ramo. Mason Raymond was actually believed to be a strong contender to join the Flames roster this year, but ultimately ended up in Toronto on a PTO and has done quite well notching 11pts in 14gp so far this year.
Shortly after, Calgary would get some life back in the game with a timely goal as a result of a shot thrown on net by Kris Russell which was tipped in by David Jones. The goal scored by Jones would cut the Leafs lead to one goal. I felt both players had a great game as Jones provided a quick and gritty game for the Flames, while Russell was steady on the back-end often moving the puck with ease.
With roughly two minutes left in the game, a penalty was called to David Clarkson for boarding and the Flames would get a chance to tie the game up at three goals each. With over a minute left in the period, Flames coach Bob Hartley would decide to pull Kari Ramo for an extra attacker resulting in a 6-4 for Calgary. Despite having a few strong scoring chances, Leafs Paul Ranger was able to push over Jiri Hudler, steal the puck, and add an empty net goal to secure a 4-2 win.
All things considered, the game was a little tough to watch in terms of how it developed. The Flames appeared to out-muscle the Leafs on several plays and were able to out-shoot the Buds by quite the margin; 43-22. Great goaltending and converting on opportunities would ultimately provide Toronto with their first win at the Saddledome in about 11 years. Calgary played well overall and should not be too upset with the end result, in my opinion.
"I felt that we had a good game," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "We are not very pleased with the result, but I don't know what we could have done more. Offensively we generated a lot. Our fore-checking was good. Our puck decisions in the offensive zone were very good, but Bernier basically stole the game away from us."
The Flames will take on the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night at home which should make for a good game. After last night’s loss, the Calgary Flames currently hold a record of 5-5-2 compared to the Red Wings’ 7-4-2.
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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