The first period last night might have been the best 20 minutes of hockey the Calgary Flames have played this season. They were relentless in pressuring the puck, were always moving to find open ice, and making sure to stay aware of their coverage in the defensive zone. Despite the rather uninspiring 1-1 result of the frame, I imagine that stanza would serve well as the blueprint the coaching staff is trying to teach this team.
Although the Flames were able to eventually take a 2 goal lead and finish with a 4-2 win, there was definitely some push-back from an Avalanche team that was looking to tie a franchise record with their 7th consecutive road win, but birthday boy Miikka Kiprusoff was equal to the task as the Flames 21-5 shot advantage after one period eventually evaporated as the Avs ended up outshooting the Flames 36-34 and Miikka was called upon to hold his team in the game, in particular in the third period when the Flames were outshot by an alarming 20-6 margin in what was essentially a role-reversal from the first frame.
The victory against the division leaders was a huge one that will hopefully give the Flames some momentum as they look to get to .500 tomorrow night at home against the Blues, but there certainly has to be some concern in how far the Avalanche were able to "push back" after the Flames looked to be in complete control of the game.
Did the Flames simply surprise the Avalanche and once the visitors got their feet under them, they were able to exert their will on the Flames which would imply that the second half of the game was more indicative of where the teams currently stand than the score? Or did the Flames perhaps let off the gas a little too much and allow the visitors to control the play, content that their former Vezina winning last line of defense would once again come to their rescue? Maybe it was neither but, more likely, it was a little of both.
Although the Flames were able to dominate the first, simply breaking even had to be a little disheartening for the club since they might have looked at it as the continuation of the trend of the last few games where they weren't getting rewarded for their efforts. Add in the 2 goal lead the Flames were able to build midway through the second and perhaps a little bit of a protectionist mindset creeped its way into a team that was playing a club who was already 7 points ahead of them entering last night's action.
Regardless of what the reason was that the Flames seemed to revert into a shell in the third as the Avalanche, to their credit, really ramped up their play, the hope is that the win will allow them to be more confident in what they're doing and be able to carry the type of attention to detail and tenacity into three periods as they move forward. If they can do that, they'll be able to repeat the success they enjoyed in the second half of last year.
Have a great day!
[email protected]
Follow me on twitter
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»