Post Game – Buffalo: Monahandled

That game was a roller-coaster. The Flames still can’t kill a penalty but Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan dragged the Flames across the finish line tonight in a game which would probably benefit from having copies of it destroyed. The Flames did a great job handling Buffalo Sabres not named Rasmus Ristolainen but did their best to lose a game they had in hand several times. 

Oh well, a wins a win! Come have a look at how it all went down after the jump. 

The first period was pretty… terrible. The Flames had two power-play opportunities and managed maybe a single scoring chance on each of them. However, if you thought just watching a bad hockey game was your only punishment, then you were wrong. One of the worst possible things happened in the first period with about a minute left. 

Rasmus Ristolainen pushed our beloved Johnny Gaudreau who fell awkwardly into David Jones before crumpling to the ice and heading straight for the tunnel. I immediately placed an order for an Auston Matthews jersey. Here’s a look at the incident:

However, all was well. Johnny was back on the bench to start the period and I cancelled my jersey order and dried my tears. After the first, the Flames led the Sabres in shots 10-6 and the balance of play was largely even. 

About four minutes into the second, Brandon Bollig took a bone-headed penalty and the Flames were able to kill it off. Once the penalty expired, Bollig was able to help out on a rush that ended up with Monahan banging home a loose puck, 1-0 Flames. 

Certainly not the prettiest goal but hopefully Monahan can continue to turn his game around after a tough start to the season. Ferland and Wideman got the assists. By the way, the media attempt to praise Bollig following that goal was…interesting. The standards are set so low for him it’s shocking. 

Here is a look at the Monahan goal: 

The second period was essentially a snoozer as well, with the Flames able to limit the Sabres to many good chances though the Sabres rang one off the post early in the period. But wait! Perhaps the Sabres were lulled to sleep by the general lack-of-anything occurring in the period but Joe Colborne entered the zone (narrowly keeping the play onside) fed the puck in front to Dougie Hamilton, wait, really? What was he doing there? Who the hell was supposed to be covering either of them? Well, either way, Hamilton beautifully slid the puck to Markus Granlund who tapped it in with about seven seconds left in the second to make it 2-0 Flames.

Here is a look at the goal. Dig that pass from Hamilton:  

After the second, the Flames led the Sabres in shots 22-14. It’s gonna be another snoozer of a game though right? Both teams seemed listless and maybe the Flames would grind out an ugly one right? WRONG! The third period was insanity. Good hockey? Well, not good penalty killing. And not good defence. Or goaltending. But! Good was the result!

 Things started to fall apart early in the third when Sam Bennett turned into a one-man penalty taking machine and the Flames PK once again let the team down in a big way. 

Less than a minute into the final frame, Sam Bennett took an interference penalty for running a bit of a pick for Joe Colborne as he tried to enter the zone. On the resulting Sabre power play, the league’s worst penalty kill surrendered another goal. Noted Gaudreau hurter Rasmus Ristolainen fired a shot home from the point through about a million bodies, the 21st goal that the Flames had allowed on the PK this year:

On Bennett’s next shift, he took another penalty, this time for tripping and the Sabres scored three-freaking-seconds into the power play. Something has to be done about the Flames inability to kill penalties at even a decent rate. Instead, their inability to score goals a man up and remarkable ability to bleed goals a man down meant that the lead that the Flames acquired through two periods was gone immediately into the third and all of a sudden, it was a dog-fight. 

Thanks to the outstanding vision of Johnny “screw you Rasmus” Gaudreau, the Flames got the lead back about mid-way through the third. Gaudreau made a nice catch on a deflected Giordano pass then spun and found Monahan for essentially a tap-in. I will choose to believe the pass was for Monahan and not for Jones who swung and missed. See for yourself!

However, because life is cruel and Rasmus Ristolainen is better than Darnell Nurse, the Sabres tied the game at three when the aforementioned Gaudreau hurter fired a puck in off of Dennis Wideman who was practicing a rather interesting interpretation of defence at that moment. The Flames blow another lead though this was the first even-strength goal for the Sabres of the night. 

The theatrics were not over though. The littlest prince put the Flames ahead for good, proving that Ristolainen was no match for him. Gaudreau snapped a puck past Johnson (one that Johnson should have had) and the Flames held on for a bizarre 4-3 win. 

Markus Granlund had a strong game, Joe Colborne (who I, like many, have been very critical of) had a heckuva game, Brodie was good as ever, and Sean Monahan put up some serious points tonight. But come on, we know who this is. 

Johnny Gaudreau was knocked down, came back and willed his team past the Sabres in a very bizarre game. 

I don’t get it either. Somehow the Flames are right back in the thick of a playoff race. In other news, Emile Poirier scored twice and Bill Arnold scored once and the Heat won 3-2 tonight so it’s smiles all around tonight in Flames land.