Ottawa...wa...wa
Pat Steinberg
November 15 2011 10:20PM
The Calgary Flames had some decent chances on Tuesday night at home to the Ottawa Senators, but alas, were unable to cash in while running into their old nemesis Craig Anderson in the process. In the end, the Flames fell 3-1 at the hands of the Sens and fell back to two games below .500 in the process. There were some strong elements on the night, but that likely doesn't up the spirits of Flames fans right now when mistakes hurt the team the way they did.
What Happened
A fairly free flowing first period didn't result in any scoring, but resulted in some scoring chances both ways 5-on-5. Craig Anderson was very strong, starting a trend that would continue throughout the night while Miikka Kiprusoff made some strong stops at the same time. The other trend that started surrounded Ottawa's ability to limit the damage created on Calgaryscoring chances, which the Flames would generate nine of to their opponent's six.
The second period was very much the same, except the Flames started to take things over a little bit at even strength. Calgary also racked up their opportunities on the powerplay where they had more than a full minute of 5-on-3 time but once again were unable to make good. Late in the period, it was Ottawa opening the scoring on a Flames neutral zone turnover. A Nick Foligno pass would eventually find it's way to Daniel Alfredsson who went snipe show on Kiprusoff for his fifth of the season at 18:44. Just 62 seconds later, Calgary evened the affair on a Sens giveaway thanks to their goaltender; as Anderson tried to play the puck, he gave it right to Matt Stajan making it easy for the centre to find Tom Kostopoulos in front of the net for his second of the season making sure we had a tie game after 40.
The third period was fairly controlled on both sides with neither allowing a ton of scoring opportunities thanks to the nature of the game. Calgary had more unsuccessful powerplay time and yielded the winning goal midway through the frame. On a great individiual effort, Bobby Butler took a Sergei Gonchar pass off the boards at centre ice; after beating Jay Bouwmeester there, he'd beat Mark Giordano inside the blueline before beating Kiprusoff on the shot for his first of the season. Butler's second of the season came off another Calgary turnover, this time at the offensive blueline leading to a 3-on-2 rush. Instead of passing, Butler took a shot from the right side and at 16:12 the Sens sealed their 3-1 win.
One Good Reason...
...why the Flames lost? On this night, it was mistakes plain and simple. They generated a good deal more when it came to scoring chances, but sometimes that happens. The fact is, the game was tied at one after two periods and Calgary still had an opportunity to win this game. In a tightly contested final frame, Calgary made two crucial mistakes which resulted in pucks in the back of their net.
Red Warrior
Gotta give it to Mr. Popular. Rene Bourque was on the ice for seven even strength scoring chances and played one of his best games this season. While I thought Olli Jokinen was the best player on the ice, knowing the past few days surrounding Bourque and his rather uninspired play for much of this season, it was good to see #17 have an impact on a hockey game in a positive way.
Sum It Up
Overall it wasn't a terrible outing for the home side. The problem is, decent outings that result in losses thanks to mistakes just aren't going to cut it. I know frustration is setting in, and it would for any human in a similar situation, but the third period mistakes really hurt the Flames on a night where they were a tad unlucky around the net. With two days off prior to Friday's game against Chicago, it may be an interesting next 48 hours.
What is firing the coach going to do? We still have the same players. The problem is that this team just isn't good. JBo/Giord are great dmen on any team. Kipper is an elite goalie on any team. Then what? Iggy was elite but is declining with each passing day. Tanguay is a great secondary scorer but is also getting older. Oli is... sigh...Oli. Who knows but he is declining as well.
We are using Glencross in a primary offence role. On a Vancouver/Chicago team he'd be 3rd line at best.
Bourque is probably a solid 2nd liner on any team.
You could fire the coach 10 times over and it won't fix the fact that we have a very weak team with very little elite talent. We are asking secondary scorers to be top line guys, and mucking grinder support players (Glencross) to be key cogs in an offence.
Does anyone really wonder why this team can't score? Its cause its just not good.
I see no solution but to start dumping and tearing this down. Hagman was good, next up Stajan. Trade Iggy for a 1st rounder this year, Kipper as well. We will suck worse than the Oilers for 2-3 years but we won't be a perpetual MIDDLING team.
Middling is the worst..... I'd rather be 30th than middling, at least 30th gets you an elite player for the next 10 years.
Naw, it's because that Gremlin behind the bench (the same one that stared as a goblin in lord of the rings) is trying to play a defensive minded game.
Only problem with his theory is that the team is allowing too many goals and CANNOT keep a lead. Sorry - the coach is garbage and he's one ugly mo fo too... eewww
Our Flames defiantly have to get younger. The views Kelly Hrudey expressed on HNIC regarding Rene Bourque, I've been sharing the same concerns about him for 2 years now! Bourque will not go into corners he never goes all out!'m not saying he has to be a Tough Guy or anything like that! Show some cumption and go into corners and get the puck yourself and attempt some forechecking. Roman Horak & Paul Byron, Have played great! And, I believe they will continue to get better and be effective. Bourque should be traded. THe Blackhawks didn't trade him to us for nothing. I'm sure Joel Quennville, Noticed his lack of intensity and selfish play.
Harry Patrick, I love the C of Red.
Our Flames defiantly have to get younger. The views Kelly Hrudey expressed on HNIC regarding Rene Bourque, I've been sharing the same concerns about him for 2 years now! Bourque will not go into corners he never goes all out!'m not saying he has to be a Tough Guy or anything like that! Show some cumption and go into corners and get the puck yourself and attempt some forechecking. Roman Horak & Paul Byron, Have played great! And, I believe they will continue to get better and be effective. Bourque should be traded. THe Blackhawks didn't trade him to us for nothing. I'm sure Joel Quennville, Noticed his lack of intensity and selfish play.
Harry Patrick, I love the C of Red.
I agree with your take on the team. Special teams win games, especially with the parity in the league right now. Calgary is demonstrating that they can compete 5 vs. 5 but they're special teams are costing them points. I'm not saying they would be elite, but probably above .500 at this point. You can't have a 5 on 3 pp for a full minute without scoring.
Who is the special teams coach? League wide, it would probably look like Montreal, but Calgary should look at removing the person in charge of special teams.
I love the picture Pat, did you draw it on MS Paint yourself?
after Kent put the sad trombone on the chat last night, you have no idea how hard I laughed when I saw that picture first thing this morning.
Adam, For a long time I wondered where I had seen the Flames Coach before, It haunted me, somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind I could see him yelling out "HEY YOUUU GUYSSS!!!" Just a few months ago i was watching a movie on basic cable and in a flash it all came back to me.... I was watching Goonies.
;)