Post-Game: Panthers De-Clawed In Third

This afternoon, the Calgary Flames tried to bounce back from a fairly hefty loss in Tampa Bay on Thursday. And for two periods, they played like they didn’t have a care in the world.

And then the third period happened, and the boys in red somehow snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and skated out of Sunrise, Florida with a 6-4 win before a crowd of 9,230 fans.

Want the recipe for success on the road? It probably doesn’t start with giving up a goal to the home team just 77 seconds in. Scott Upshall banked a puck in off Karri Ramo and in. That began a weird (and bad) game for Ramo. Nobody else scored in the first. The Flames were out-shot 12-8 in the first.

The second period was river hockey. And by “river,” I mean sloppy. And by “sloppy,” I mean that the teams both decided that defense and goaltending were things of the past. Nick Bjugstad made it 2-0 for the Panthers four minutes in. David Jones scored 33 seconds later off a nifty set-up by Johnny Gaudreau. Scott Upshall scored his second of the game a few minutes later to extend the lead back to 3-1. Off a weird play, the Flames made it 3-2 via a short-handed goal: Lance Bouma and Paul Byron went in on a 2-on-2, resulting in Bouma wiping out Al Montoya and a trailing Mark Giordano tapped it in. The Flames then tied it up via a Jiri Hudler goal. However, the Panthers struck back 35 seconds later – via a Jimmy Hayes goal – and that spelled the end of the game for Ramo after 4 goals on 22 shots. Calgary held a 12-11 shots edge in the middle frame.

The Flames mounted a comeback in the third with three goals. Five minutes in, Sean Monahan tied it up off a feed from Gaudreau. Late in regulation, Lance Bouma teed up a slapshot that beat Montoya to put Calgary up by one. And Gaudreau iced the game with an empty-netter (with a Panther in the box for diving) to make it 6-4. The Panthers out-shot Calgary 8-5 in the third, which means the Flames scored three goals on five shots.

The Flames were probably grumpy about being down by a goal after 40 minutes, but that score may have actually flattered them. Yet, down by a goal in an enemy barn, they dusted themselves off and won the third period.

Let’s go with Lance Bouma, who’s been an unsung hero for the Flames lately, but he’s also really begun to see his offensive side of the game open up. He was strong today, and got a game-winning goal.

The Calgary Flames now sit with a 9-5-2 – good for 20 points and a sterling 7-3-0 road record. They head up the east coast and finish off their road trip on Monday night with a date with the Carolina Hurricanes.

It took ’em 27 games to win 10 games last season. They could do it in 17 this year with a win on Monday.