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As yesterday’s blog alluded to in an obvious fashion, only one of the two teams playing last night could improve upon their poor home/road record, and it would be the Calgary Flames who came out on top.
Having now won six of their previous ten games played, the Flames have been turning a few heads given their roster depth. Not considered to be a team in any sort of contention this year, the Flames have been outplaying many of their opponents this year by simply rolling up their sleeves and getting to work.
Noted by their current GM and coach, Calgary wanted to be a physical hard working team that would be difficult to play against. Recognizing that they are shy a few star players and are arguably on the lower end in terms of possessing experienced players, the Flames have been sticking to a simple game plan which is centralized around hard work.
That said, the Flames were once again afforded with solid goaltending from none other than Reto Berra. As I’ve made mention to a few times of late, Berra had been struggling to find his game at the NHL level and appears to be finding some comfort and or confidence in his recent games.
Knowing that if his play begins to decline Joni Ortio is there to take over, Berra has provided his team with the opportunity to win games which they took full advantage of last night.
"Reto was simply outstanding. He was the guy who kept us in the game and gave us a chance," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "He made big saves early and gave us a chance. Then we started skating better and executing better."
Given that the team was held scoreless against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, scoring a goal or two was certainly on their minds last night. That said, the Flames would secure a two goal lead in the second period from goals by rookie Sean Monahan and Dennis Wideman. Unfortunately, the two goal lead would only last about a minute as the Islanders would respond with a goal of their own with second remaining in the 2nd period.
As the game shifted to the third period, the Islanders would keep pressing after some momentum was gained with their first goal of the night and would tie up the game at two. And while both teams were pushing for the go ahead goal, it would be the Flames persistence which rewarded them with their 3rd goal of the night, as they regained the lead.
"We worked hard and earned our chances," said center Matt Stajan. "We didn't give up, kept the pressure on them and it paid off for us."
I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that David Jones and Lance Bouma have been playing quite well of late, and it would Mr. Jones who put the game away for the Flames last night. Just to be safe, Mikael Backlund added an empty netter with three seconds remaining in the game which would be good for his 14th goal of the year, and 10th point in his last six games played.
While we’re discussing Backlund, it should stand to reason that I make reference to last night’s excitement for the 24 year old centerman which, unfortunately, cooled off rather quickly
It was announced by just about every Flames writer/reporter (save for me…hehe) that Backlund would replace Henrik Sedin in Sochi for Sweden’s hockey team…should go without saying, I know. I digress.
With the “news… leaked by a Swedish reporter that it would be Mikael to replace Sedin, everyone jumped on board and assumed the information was accurate. Not one to make announcements like that without verifying the source, I quickly noticed that no one closed to Backlund was made aware of such decision, in fact Backlund himself said he had not received a call.
While the news was certainly exciting to hear for fans given Backlunds recent success, it would ultimately be Marcus Johansson of the Washington Capitals to get the call. I can understand the frustration from many fans as they feel that Backlund deserved the call, however the Swedish team was likely looking for someone with a better track record to represent them at the Olympics, and unfortunately Backlund’s success is all too new.
That said, when comparing the two players, they are actually quite close in points, games played, and age. In fact, Johansson is only one year younger than Backlund and has registered a slightly better point per game pace at 0.54, over Mikael’s 0.40ppg pace. Johansson will bring some speed to the Swedish team, and on the Olympic pad, it will come in handy if he’s called upon.
The Calgary Flames will take to the ice tomorrow against the Philadelphia Flyers to end their three game road trip and be off until the 27th for the Olympic break.
Thanks for reading!