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After struggling over the past month or so with respect to goals for and goals against, the Flames found a way to improve upon both as they blanked the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 last night on the road.
As I mentioned during yesterday’s blog, the Flames were expected to have even more difficulty scoring with Mike Cammalleri out of the lineup after suffering a concussion. I also mentioned that as a result of this added injury, players such as Mikael Backlund and Sean Monahan would need to be relied upon for scoring if the Flames were to find any success. And they did.
Opening the scoring for Calgary in the 2nd period during a power play opportunity, Backlund was able to squeeze in his 7th goal of the year after a redirected pass by Jiri Hudler found the net. Though it wasn’t a pretty goal, Backlund was properly positioned in front and was able to take a few whacks at the puck, ultimately squeezing through the pads of netminder Anton Khudobin.
While neither side had too many solid scoring chances in the first or second, there were some solid offensive and defensive plays from both sides which would keep the game at 1-0 moving into the third. That said, the Flames, despite historically struggling in last 20 minutes of their games, were able to constrain the Canes top point getters and keep pucks to the corners when needed; though a lot of it had to do with a few key saves by Karri Ramo, who earned his first NHL shutout of his career.
“It’s good that it’s out of the way,… Ramo said. “It’s nice to finish one without a goal. Obviously, everyone thinks about it and knows the situation but you just have to focus and play normally.…
All things considered, I’ve noticed a nice transition with respect to Ramo’s game. Once a little “off… in terms of positioning, he appears to be improving on his angles, avoiding staying too deep in his crease, challenging his shooters, and fighting to recover rebounds/loose pucks a little more than we have seen this year. As I mentioned early on when speaking of Ramo, his game will need some time to mature at the NHL level, especially with a rebuilding team.
If there is no evident indication of improvement within areas of weakness, there should be reason for concern. That said, and while he continues to struggle “overall…, I can personally see improvements in certain areas of his game and am hopeful for his future as a Flame.
Moving into the third period, the Flames had several chances and appeared to play a strong team game. Calgary was able to keep shots low by getting in the shooting lanes, forcing the play to the corners, and doing their best to either clear the front of the net and or “intimidate… their opposition in their own end. By doing so, the team was able to frustrate Carolina’s forwards and keep guys like Jeff Skinner off the score sheet, who has been rather hot of late in points.
It would be Sean Monahan who would put the game away late in the third after a perfectly executed two on one play with winger Paul Byron. Coming down the wing anticipating a pass, Byron found Monahan all alone in front who had an empty net to shoot at with Khudobin playing the shooter. Monahan had a much better game with a few chances on net, leading to a few pats on the back from the coaching staff.
Funny enough, the game should have been 3-0 after not only would Hudler miss an empty net from around the blueline after the Canes pulled Khudobin, but Stempniak would ring it off the post seconds later. Wasn't meant to be, I guess.
Yesterday I discussed the likeliness of Mike Cammalleri being traded, and further how I felt that his current injury could very well reduce his value to another team. To further this discussion, TSN has added fuel to the fire by stating this morning that the Pens are likely interested in the veteran winger, in addition to Ales Hemsky or Matt Moulson.
I suspect that Cammalleri’s current injury, given that he’s listed as “day to day… is precautionary and not very serious. Now, I am no doctor, but having watched the alleged hit which caused the distress, it doesn’t appear to be very serious to me and I have a feeling that he will be back in the lineup as early as this upcoming weekend. No new updates from the team have been released, however, and we will have to wait and see. While on the topic of trade discussions - I wrote a blog a while ago about Mikael Backlund and his own likeliness of being traded. Well, this discussion can be viewed in two different ways.
Backlund’s play has without a doubt improved over the past couple of weeks, and as such, he’s being rewarded in terms of on ice production and ice time. Moreover, with Cammalleri absent from the lineup, Backlund was also provided with an A on his sweater last night – typically an indication that said player is in the coach’s “good book….
That said, I feel the sample size is much too small at the time to make a decision or actual assessment of Backlund’s worth to the team, or trade market. There is one thing I will maintain, however – the Flames are in no rush to make any decisions with guys like this and unless someone offers them a deal which is too good to turn down, they cannot afford to move a centerman of his age at this point in time.
One last point that I would like to make, which I’ve noticed to be an opinion not shared by many, is keeping Matt Stajan. My reasoning here is twofold. Firstly, as I am sure many would agree with, is that Stajan is not likely to fetch much to anything which the Flames can legitimately use with respect to their long term rebuild goals. His trade value is just not there.
Secondly, the Flames have several young centerman who are working their way up the roster and it would be nice to have an experienced player on the roster, who will not cost much to keep around, to try and take some pressure off some of the younger guys.
Although Stajan is not likely part of the Flames future plans, keeping him for another year or two in hopes that he either steps up his game or helps develop their youth is not a very large risk for the team to take.
Just a few thoughts to mull over. What do you think?
Thanks for reading!