Post-Game: Bedeviled

It’s no secret that the Calgary Flames have been an inconsistent team this season. Tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils was basically the 2016-17 edition of this club in a nutshell. They had a good start and got out to a lead. Then they allowed many goals in rapid succession and trailed after 40 minutes. But they managed to get back into the game before Mikael Backlund won it for them in overtime.

The Flames beat New Jersey 4-3 at Prudential Center to capture a crucial pair of points in an incredibly tight Western Conference playoff race.

It was a very drab opening first 20 minutes. Both teams played a lot in the neutral zone, with each side relying on dump-and-chase to give them breathing room. Neither team had a ton of chances. The Flames opened the scoring just after their power play expired, with Sean Monahan scoring his 99th career goal on a really nice lengthy cycling sequence in the Devils zone that tuckered their penalty killers right out. Monahan sniped one to make it 1-0.

Shots were 16-11 Flames.

The second period was basically two big chunks. The Flames played well early on, with Kris Versteeg scoring early on a power play drawn by the Flames at the end of the first. Johnny Gaudreau entered the Devils zone with speed, then dropped the puck for Versteeg to wrist on the rush before New Jersey’s PK had a chance to set up. That made it 2-0.

After that? New Jersey woke up and the Flames seemed to lose their focus and their attention to detail that had been so strong over the first 25-or-so minutes. Adam Henrique made it 2-1 after Troy Brouwer and Zach Wood battled for a puck behind the net and it squirted to Henrique for the wrap-around goal. Brian Elliott was caught unaware by the turn of events. Pavel Zacha made it 2-2 on a Devils power play. Elliott made the initial save and Zacha beat Brouwer to a loose puck (and Elliott couldn’t get across quickly enough to make the save).

Kyle Palmieri made it 3-2 Devils on another Devils power play – Dennis Wideman was in the box for shoving the net off its moorings with the Devils pressing – Palmieri deflected a rebound past Elliott using his stick shaft. Shots were 13-11 New Jersey.

The Flames seemed to wake up during the intermission, as they were considerably better in the third than they had been in the second. Midway through the period they drew even; T.J. Brodie jumped into the rush and his shot was deflected past Cory Schneider by Matt Stajan to make it 3-3. The Flames pressed for the rest of the period but couldn’t take a lead during regulation time. Shots were 9-4 Flames.

So we went to overtime and the Flames won it off a really nice passing sequence between Mikael Backlund and Brodie in the offensive zone. They were circling and dishing it off and circling and dishing it off. The Devils followed Brodie for too long, leaving Backlund open for a pass and a redirect past Schneider. Shots were 2-1 in OT for Calgary.

The Flames bent, but didn’t break, and they didn’t let a bad second period turn into an even worse third. We’ve seen the wheels fall off the Flames in the past, but they seemed to simplify their game in the third and the Devils just couldn’t keep up.

It also helps that they got contributions from a lot of different places, which seemingly made it difficult for the Devils to key in on any one line or grouping. Their power play scored. Their goaltending was good, although not quite as good as it was against Ottawa or Minnesota. Their fourth line scored to tie it.

It seems super obvious, but man, this was a really nice sequence.

Brodie had three primary assists and a secondary assist. Despite being saddled with Wideman, he was superb tonight and was a catalyst whenever he got the puck in the offensive end.

Neither of Wideman or Brouwer were particularly good in this game.

After tonight, the Flames are 3-19-1 when trailing after two periods.

As previously mentioned, Monahan’s next goal will be his 100th.

Brodie’s game score tonight is the highest registered by any Flames player this season.

The Flames (27-24-3) practice tomorrow in Central Park and then are back in action on Sunday afternoon when they visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

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