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As it should be to no one’s surprise, the Calgary Flames have, for the 46th time this year, kept their game within one goal and nearly squeezed by with an extra point.
For those who don’t follow on a weekly basis, you might be quite surprised by the above mentioned stat. To expand, the Flames have now kept 60.5% of their games this year within one goal, and while I’ve likely mentioned it a few too many times, of the games which were separated by more than one goal, nine were wins. That being said, the Flames have only lost 29% of their games by more than one goal - not too bad, huh?
With respect to last night’s game, I felt that while the Flames have been doing very well at pressuring the opposition and keeping chances to a minimum, they didn’t have their greatest effort. Averaging just over 30 shots for per game of late, the Flames were held to 24 shots last night against a Toronto Maple Leafs team who has been allowing 36+ shots on average, per night.
And although Calgary hasn’t had any issues finding the back of the net of late (13 goals in last 5gp), they were unable to create many scoring chances and perhaps came out of the gates a little too slow. With only five shots on net during the first period, Calgary would arguably allow the momentum of the game to swing in Toronto’s favour, who opened the scoring in the 2nd period.
That said, it wouldn’t take long for the Toronto native Matt Stajan to respond with a goal of his own against his former club. The look on Stajan’s face after scoring against Jon Bernier on the partial break was, for a lack of better words, fantastic. The Flames took advantage of poor defensive coverage by the Leafs as TJ Brodie sprung Matt on a breakaway which allowed him plenty of time to go five hole on Bernier before crashing into the end boards. Tied 1-1 going into the 3rd, neither side would have too many strong scoring opportunities, and, unfortunately for the Flames, it would be TJ Brodie who would give the Leafs their 2-1 lead. Leafs’ Dave Bolland would come flying up the wing, and at an attempt to throw the puck in front of the net, he would end up deflecting it off of Brodie and into the back of the net.
I’m not entirely sure whether Brodie simply got caught in the way or if he was legitimately trying to kick the puck away from the front of the net. Either way, I’m sure he envisioned a harmless looking play ending a little differently.
Too add salt to the wound, Toronto would add another goal courtesy of David Clarkson who was on a severe scoring and pointless drought. Notching just his 5th goal and 11th point of the year, Clarkson would receive a pass and tuck the puck between Ramo’s five-hole, almost identical to Stajan’s goal.
As expected from this Calgary team, however, the Flames would not give up and as a result of a perfectly executed shot by Kris Russell, would keep the game within one goal. Unfortunately, however, the team could not bolster enough last minute effort to tie up the game, despite having a few dying seconds of the game with a two man advantage due to a poorly timed penalty by Dion Phaneuf.
Ending the game by another one goal differential would only add to the number of moral victories for the Flames 2013-14 NHL season. And while this is something to be proud of for fans, I believe management will be finding ways to convert more close losses, to wins next season.
The Flames will take to the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow night for their 77th game of the year. Since falling to the Leafs last night, they have fallen to 27th in overall standings and, as such, have increased their odds at a first overall draft selection in the 2014 NHL Draft.
Not exactly something to be proud of, but when your team is playing quite well and can still walk away with a top end draft pick, you should be pretty happy, all things considered. Thanks for reading!