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A few thoughts on Calgary vs Los Angeles and the craziness that came with it:
1) I'll start with the Matthew Tkachuk/Drew Doughty stuff because that was the big storyline last night and it kind of took over the game.
Yes, Tkachuk's elbow on Doughty was dirty. Yes, I expected some Kings players to take runs at him throughout the game even though he served a suspension for it. That said, how it all played out was kind of ridiculous.
Andy Andreoff and Kyle Clifford have combined for 12 points in 102 games this season and don't bring anything to the table other than a physical presence. Tkachuk will never waste his time fighting those guys, nor should he, so chasing him around the entire game is stupid, especially when he already answered the bell and fought a 26-year-old, 6'4', 212-pound defenseman in Brayden McNabb. Tkachuk is 19 and weighs 200 pounds soaking wet. That's good enough.
Several players targeting Tkachuk after he attempted, missed, and took the worst of a clean hit attempt on Drew Doughty in open ice is dumb, too. Is he supposed to completely avoid a defenseman who played almost 26 minutes? I don't get it.
Anyway, kudos to the kid for fighting his own battles and continuing to play his game. That's why teammates, management, and fans love him.
2) It was nice to see everyone on the team stick up for each other but the physicality and emotion of the game got the best of the Flames in this one. With a win, they would have clinched a playoff spot and that didn't seem to clue in with any of the players until they were trailing in the 3rd period. Everyone on the roster was so focused on the physical aspect of the game that they stopped playing hockey. Even Mikael Backlund, who is as cool and collected as they come, was taking runs at opposing players and served a couple penalties as a result.
I know it's an emotional game but the Kings don't matter to the Flames. Trying to earn home ice, or at least avoid playing Chicago or Anaheim, does.
3) Seriously, how awesome is Jarome Iginla? He scored his fifth goal in 13 games with the Kings, registered an assist, fought arguably the toughest guy on the Flames and picked up a Gordie Howe hat trick in what could have been his final game in Calgary.
Personally, I feel he would have taken more of a victory lap after the game if he knew it would be his last in Calgary. I think he is still seriously considering one more year, which I would like to see, and didn't want to soak it all in only to make himself look silly if and when he decides to play another year. If that was his last game in Calgary it was sure a good way to go out and very Iginla-like in that he didn't attract and allow all the attention to be on him.
4) Does anyone take more slashes on the hands than Johnny Gaudreau? Honestly, it happens countless times in each and every game and rarely gets called (although it did last night). Everyone was freaking out about Sidney Crosby slashing Marc Methot because the end result was bad but stars like Gaudreau and Crosby take slashes from anyone and everyone on the ice on a nightly basis and nobody cares or claims "Player X is dirty!" then. Just because Crosby hasn't broken a hand (Gaudreau has!) as a result of a slash doesn't make the play any less dirty. You're supposed to punish the act, not the result. Those are the things that can, and will, happen if you allow players to chop wood on other people's hands.
5) Troy Brouwer was awfully quiet last night. He didn't get into the act physically (which is part of the reason the Flames brought him in) and didn't create any offense in a physical, grind-it-out-type game his style of play is supposed to be effective in. He better come up big in the playoffs because his regular season has been a dud (he has the lowest goal and point totals since 2008-09).
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