Post-Game: Flames close out road trip with win over Colorado

The old saying goes “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” The Calgary Flames weren’t necessarily killed by their six game road trip, but it certainly shone a light on some of the team’s flaws and insecurities. One of those flaws was some shaky play by backup netminder Eddie Lack. During this trip, Lack was waived and sent to the American Hockey League. His replacement, David Rittich, was sharp in his first National Hockey League start as he back-stopped the Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche to close out the road trip.

The Flames finish their trek with a 3-2-1 record.

The Flames had pep in their step in the opening period, but they were really bad at hitting the net. That said, they were strong enough relative to a flat Colorado team that it didn’t really hurt them that much. A lengthy stretch in the Colorado end from the 3M Line drew a penalty (via Matthew Tkachuk). On the ensuing man advantage, the first unit couldn’t bury anything but Tkachuk set up Dougie Hamilton for a slap shot and that gave them a 1-0 lead. Shots were 8-7 Flames, while scoring chances were 13-3 Flames.

Calgary spent a decent chunk of the second period killing penalties. The first two were killed off well, but with Matt Bartkowski in the box for a rather sloppy clearing attempt that went over the glass, Mikko Rantanen took advantage of a double-screen on David Rittich to beat him low through traffic and tie the game up at 1-1. But just when doubts may have been creeping into the heads of fans who had seen the Dallas game, the Flames struck twice in the waning moments of the period. Micheal Ferland’s back-check caused a turnover in the Colorado end, and Sean Monahan set up Ferland down low. Ferland drove the net and made it 2-1 with a nice wrister inside the near post.

Just 22 seconds later, the Flames added the eventual game-winner. Michael Frolik’s shot missed the net but bounced to Travis Hamonic, whose shot rebounded off Jonathan Bernier and went right to Mikael Backlund who buried the rebound to make it 3-1. It was Backlund’s 100th career NHL goal.

Shots were 12-7 Colorado, but scoring chances were 10-9 Flames.

Both teams had their chances in the third period, but the Flames seemed content to hang out and run out the clock. They seemingly forgot how to clear their zone for long stretches, though, and that led to another Colorado goal. After a failed clear, a Nikita Zadorov point shot through traffic beat Rittich to cut Calgary’s lead to one (3-2) with just three minutes left. But that was as close as Colorado got. Shots were 13-7 Flames, but scoring chances were 7-6 Avalanche.

They got run support, but a lot of credit has to go to Rittich. The two goals he gave up were both screen goals through multiple layers of traffic. But other than that, if he saw it he made the save. His sharp play early on seemed to give the Flames skaters a level of “Oh cool, he’s got this” confidence and they seemed more adept at jumping into the rush and taking some chances. They didn’t give up many odd-man opportunities, but even when they did Rittich was up to the task.

Not to speak ill of the departed, but this was the exact type of game Eddie Lack needed to have in one of his first few outings to give his team confidence in his ability to make saves when called upon.

Rittich got his first NHL win, so he gets the nod. But not a ton of Flames were out-and-out bad, though some had rather quiet games. The top line and the 3M line were good once again, though. It’s a bit of a shame Johnny Gaudreau was somehow kept off the scoresheet.

Two goals in 22 seconds in the second period tilted the entire game. One was triggered by nice defensive plays in the Colorado zone by Ferland and Monahan. The other was the 3M line catching Colorado on their heels after the faceoff.

Eddie Lack made 23 saves and Marek Hrivik had three points in Stockton’s 4-2 win over Tucson. Nick Schneider made 24 saves in the Hitmen’s 2-1 overtime win over Red Deer. Glenn Gawdin had an assist, but Swift Current lost to Brandon 3-2. Dillon Dube had a goal and an assist in Kelowna’s 4-0 win over Medicine Hat.

The Flames (13-9-1) head home and have an off-day tomorrow to enjoy the Grey Cup. They practice on Monday and are back in action on Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.