POST GAME: Flames Win, Lift Jersey Curse

The Flames came alive in a five minute stretch to pull the Flames in front of the Senators. Oh, and Giordano was clipped with a stick in the first period and had to get four stitches on his eyelid. Did you hear me? HIS EYELID. Lordy, he is tough and good at hockey. 

The Flames beat the Senators 4-2 tonight in a wild game in which every single player was hit in the face with a stick. Come read all about it after the jump!

The first period didn’t exactly go as planned for the Flames. Actually, it went friggen horrible. Not because of the score, though that wasn’t great either, it was because a bridge troll hurt our beloved Gio. 

The first started with Sven Baertschi making a slick move around an Ottawa defender but in doing so took a high sticking penalty. A useful case-study one might imagine. After the Flames kill, Chris Neil hit 1/2 of Brodano (the captain half) in the eye with his stick on the follow through of a dump in.

In Alberta, I believe case law permits capital punishment for injuring Giordano but the NHL is more lenient in the case of a follow through. I just though I would remind everyone of the NHL rule but it doesn’t mean I have to be happy that it had to be toothless mcsucksathockey that knocked him out, even if it was just temporary.

Shortly after that, the Sens took a 1-0 lead on a nice shot from Clarke MacArthur to beat Ramo despite the fact that the Flames had had a lot of good chances throughout the period. Sven looked good at times in the first, making some slick passes and using his speed effectively. 

Making matters worse, Kris Russell also left the game in the first period as well meaning the Flames were left with only 1.5 defencemen to start the second period and 2.5 “defencemen” (If you’re curious, I have Wideman scored as .5).

The first ended with the sens up 1-0 even though the Flames out-shot the Sens 9-5. Overall, the Flames looked pretty good in the first but were unable to bury any of their chanNONE OF THIS MATTERS HOW IS GIO DOING? DOES HE NEED AN EYE!? I WILL GIVE HIM ONE OF MINE!

Okay, okay, okay. So, they both returned to start the second. I had already pre-ordered a McDavid jersey during the intermission. Gio, I love you. Please wear a visor permanently. 

The second started with a few back and forth chances, Monahan had a nice chance that was stopped by Anderson early in the second. Then, after a Josh Jooris faceoff win, Sven Baertschi made a pass that I would cuddle to Paul Byron who turned Gryba into a mile-marker and roofed it to tie the game at one six minutes into the second.

The second ended tied at one, though the Flames continued to outshoot the Sens, finishing the period outshooting the Sens 18-13.

The third period started with some furious action, Lance Bouma was called for tripping less than a minute in and the Flames were forced the kill again. Early in the man-advantage, Paul Byron, who cannot be stopped, had a breakaway and was stopped by Anderson. Immediately following that, Karri Ramo made a great stop that even fooled the goal judge. Mike Hoffman then rang one off the post from the point. 

After leaving the box, Lance Bouma hustled down the ice, fed the puck to Markus Granlund who showed some 35 ply hands to put the Flames up 2-1 less than five minutes into the third. 

Shortly after that, the Flames went on their first powerplay of the game and were able to capitalize on some shakey puck-handling from Craig Anderson with Curtis Glencross finding Josh Jooris who had a wide open net to extend the lead to Flames lead to 3-1. Everything was coming up Milhouse for the Flames early on in the third. 

The Sens fought back midway through the third mostly because the Flames can’t play Brodie and Giordano for the entire game. Smid and Engelland got caught, well, on the ice and Bobby Ryan drew the Sens back to within a goal with 11 minutes to go. 

After weathering the storm, Craig Anderson continued to struggle handling the puck and coughed the puck of to Lance Bouma and put the Flames up 4-2. The Sens then had an extended 5 on 3 which the Flames were able to kill off and it was smooth sailing. Flames win 4-2. 

Was there any real question? 

Paul Byron had a whale of a game and has been one of the best Flames forwards this whole season. I have always been an enormous fan of Byron, to the point that I am sure those who know me are sick to death of me talking about him, but I think this recent stretch of success will do wonders for his profile. I still can’t believe they only gave him a one year deal this offseason.

Sven made an absolutely fantastic pass and generally looked good all game. If he keeps this up, there is no doubt in my mind that he won’t see upstate New York for a good long while. I thought Ramo also acquitted himself well in this one after a pretty rough start in Florida, especially during that late 5 on 3.

A seriously gutsy win for the Flames who were able to get some good kills and some key times and the Flames continue to pile up points early in the season. I am just as surprised as you guys. Let’s all just soak this in.

The Flames are off until Tuesday when they face their first California opponent, the Anaheim Ducks. I get the feeling we will see what this team is made of pretty soon.