Post-Game: Sinking the Sharks

On paper, this game seemed like a tough one. The SAP Center (at HP Pavilion) has historically been a tough place to play. The Flames were coming off a tough 3-2 loss the night before in Anaheim. The Sharks had been off since Saturday, when they lost at home. Likely the visitors would be tired and frustrated and the home side rested and ready to go.

Instead, the Flames went toe-to-toe with the Sharks and really pulled away in the late stages of the second period and much of the third. Instead of fading, the Flames intensified, and won a 2-0 road effort over the Sharks.

The Flames have not yet lost back-to-back games in regulation.

There was no scoring in the first period, but Antti Niemi was able to battle to keep his team in it as, uncharacteristically, the Flames attacked early. He ROBBED Johnny Gaudreau early-on in arguably his best save. The Sharks led in shots overall, though, 11-9.

The Flames were out-shot 11-6 in the second, the main difference being some aggressive play by the Sharks and a power-play generated by a Mark Giordano tripping penalty mid-way through the period. However, Karri Ramo was sharp. The Flames broke the deadlock late in the period, off of some pressure generated by a fantastic shift by Paul Byron. Basically, Byron broke into the zone and simply would not let the Sharks gain enough puck control to clear things out for a line change. As a result, one Flames on-the-fly change later, T.J. Brodie and Jiri Hudler played give-and-go on a zone entry, leading to Hudler wristing a shot past Niemi for the 1-0 lead.

The Sharks were aggressive early in the third, but the Flames weathered the storm and then the period evolved into some nice punch-counterpunch, rush-counterrush action. The Sharks did generate more shots by a 10-4 margin but, shocker, Ramo stood tall. Justin Braun tripped Markus Granlund late, leading to Jiri Hudler’s second goal of the game, on a power-play into an empty net as the Sharks tried in vain to tie the game up.

Karri Ramo was consistently good and occasionally great. The Flames generally out-worked the Sharks and battled to contain their energy as much as they could.

Oh, and Jiri Hudler was the guy who drew his name out of the “score some goals” hat tonight, so he scored enough goals to ensure the Flames won. That would be two, raising his goal total to 10 on the year.

Karri Ramo made 32 saves, coming off of a start against the New Jersey Devils where he was admittedly unhappy with his first two periods and worked hard in the third so Calgary could get a chance to win (which they did).

He really bounced back with a strong 60 minutes tonight and kept the Flames in the game throughout.

The Flames are now 14-8-2 after 24 games. They have captured 30 of a possible 48 points (representing a points percentage of roughly 62.5%).

The local hockey heroes are 3 points behind the top teams in the NHL and approximately 16 points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres, currently embroiled in the Connor McDavid sweepstakes.

They’re off to Arizona for a couple days off and then a game on Saturday night in Phoenix against the Arizona Coyotes.