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Dropping their last two games, the Calgary Flames have extended their current road record to 3-6-1 as they continue to struggle against their Western Conference opponents.
Last night the Flames took to the ice against the St Louis Blues in what was a spirited bout by the road team. As the pregame blog alluded to, last night’s game wasn’t expected to be pretty given how well the Blues have been playing of late. With a strong overall team game in addition to their well-balanced roster, the Blues were simply too much for the Flames to handle despite keeping the game quite close.
Having a “never quit” attitude, the Flames managed to battle back from a 3-0 deficit after allowing an early goal in the first. While it appeared that the game was going to end in a blowout, Calgary turned their game around in the 2nd and 3rd periods scoring two goals and nearly tying the game.
"Two different teams," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "The first period we were tentative. They carried the puck, they carried the play to us. We started on our heels. ... We made it tough on ourselves. [We gave up] a goal so early in the game ... but we never quit. I felt that we got back in the game, maybe too little, too late, but at least we showed lots of character and the guys never quit.
"If we could backtrack and replay that first 20 minutes, it might have been a different game," he added.
Down three goals in the third, Tim Jackman would jump on a rebound in front of the net and bury the Flames first goal of the night. Shortly after, Mike Cammalleri would answer with a goal of his own to cut the Blues’ lead by one. With only a few minutes remaining in the game, the Blues would take a penalty and give the Flames a chance to tie up the game on the power-play.
Despite moving the puck quite well in the offensive end and getting a few chances, Brian Elliott stopped everything thrown his way in the final minutes of the game ultimately providing his team with their 10th win for the year.
As mentioned, while the Flames dropped their second game in as many nights, their work ethic has been quite evident. Missing a few key players from their lineup in addition to fact that they are still seeking their future starting goalie, the Flames have been doing much better than the current NHL standings indicate. In spite of the fact that they have much to work and improve on, I like what I am seeing from the group so far this year.
That said, it appears many fans are becoming upset with the coaching decisions of late, specifically pertaining to sitting rookie Sven Baertschi who has been struggling to play a 200ft game. As I’ve mentioned, I don’t mind sitting players like Baertschi. Although the team is rebuilding and many argue that he should work out his kinks on the ice, I like that Hartley maintains the no B.S. attitude with his players. No excuses, it’s as simple as that.
“All I can do is whenever I get a chance, I just try to do my best and that’s it,” Baertschi said. “For me, I’ll just try to work hard every day at practice and hard during games. That’s something that’s up to you. You’ve got certain things you’re in control of. Those other things, just worry about them and the rest usually just works itself out.
“They see you’re ready to go and they’ll put you out there.”
Sitting rookies like Baertschi is nothing new to the NHL world. He will likely be sat again his young career, and with only 38 NHL games under his belt, he has a lot things to learn and hockey left to play.
Moving into tonight, the Flames will prepare to take on the Colorado Avalanche – another strong team. With 12 wins in 14 games so far this year, the Flames will have a surprise tonight if they thought last night’s opponents were a challenge.
Calgary will need to tighten up their defense tonight against a strong offensive team like Colorado. With Duchene leading the team with 17pts, it will be important to shut his line down if they are going to fight to stay in the game. Currently ranked as the top team in the NHL with respect to goals against per game, the Flames will also need to throw as many pucks at the net as they can, in addition to getting bodies in front.
That said, coach Hartley will need guys like Mike Cammalleri, Sean Monahan, and Jiri Hudler to put up some goals tonight – something he feels they’ve been struggling with of late.
"I'd like to buy one," coach Bob Hartley said of the drought. "I know that the guys are working hard. It seems we just can't turn the red light on."
Hudler, the Flames current top performer in terms of points, has notched 17pts of his own so far this year with at least one point in his last five games played. If tonight is going to be as close as last night, Calgary will need to be very focused and hope that their back to back road games don’t show on the ice against one of the hottest teams in the NHL at the moment. A team, might I add, who are addicted to winning.
"When you have a taste of winning - to use a bad analogy - it's like a drug. You crave it more and more," Duchene said after Wednesday's 6-4 home loss to Nashville. "It feels terrible (to lose) and we've felt this twice this year and it feels awful. It feels that much worse. When you're used to losing, it's just another game, but when you're used to winning it hurts that much more."
Expect a big game from David Jones tonight against his former team. It will be Jones’ first game against the Avalanche since being traded and hopefully it energizes forward.
Additionally, tonight will be a tough test for Reto Berra if he gets the nod to start once again. Despite not having pretty stats at the moment, Berra has been playing quite well I have found.
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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