Post-Game: SO MANY SADZ

 

 

What a day.

We, as a fan base, ran the collective gamut of emotions today. From elation (the news of ROR signing the offer sheet) to elation+ (a three goal lead and ROR) to sadness (Colorado announcing they matched the offer) to outright depression (blowing that 3-0 lead and losing ROR). 

When you woke up and found out that the Flames had traded for Brian McGrattan, you were likely nonplussed by the move. Such is life. However, if you have a soul you were off the walls with happiness after the O’Rieily offer sheet was announced (I’m sure there will be more analysis of this tomorrow, but damn that was a contractual beauty by Jay Feaster) and then game time came, and the Flames started out just dominating the Avs.

I just finished watching the game now after working late and I’m so emotionally drained that I shouldn’t be able to bring myself to rehash the entire thing in the detail befitting a recap of a game this nuclear, but I’ll attempt to regardless as no doubt most of you feel the same way.

The first major even of the match came less than 5 minutes into the period as a Jay Bouwmeester shot found the back of the net after a nifty pass from Sven Baertschi. It was both a continuation of the excellent season Bouwmeester is having (and on a personal note, this pleases me greatly) and hopefully the start of some kind of run for Sven, who’s had a very tough year in terms of luck and injury. 30 seconds later, Mike Cammalleri would add to the lead, scoring his 6th of the season. The Flames would strike once more, as the Captain got one past Varlamov with just 54 seconds left in the period.

The Avs would cut the lead to 3-2 midway through the period with goals from Ryan O’Byrne and David Jones, but the Flames – or more specifically, Iginla – would strike back with Jarome’s 5th of the season and 4th in 3 games. His shooting percentage is currently about 7%, so expect a touch more regression over the next week: he’s likely due for 3 or 4 more goals. 

So the Flames took a 4-2 lead into the third and they did what most of us feared, and to some degree expected, them to do. It only took 23 seconds for Landeskog to bring the Avs within one goal, and from that point on the ice seemed to be tilted at a 85º angle. Paul Stastny would deflect the next one past Joey MacDonald and then with about 10 minutes left in the game Matt Duchene gave the Avs their first and only lead of the night as he scooped the rebound past Joey Mac – and that was all she wrote. The amount of push from the Flames in the final ten was laughable to watch.

I can’t remember the last time I watched the Flames lose a hockey game where they weren’t absolute dog shit for at least a third of it. Just at a loss.

45 minutes of terrible hockey, really. I can’t even bring myself to be mad about it. I’m just tired of watching this team lose like this.

I’m going to half-heartedly give this one to Iginla, but really no one should get any type of award when you piss the game away like that. Oh well, might as well enjoy his last month or so in Flames silks.

I’ll let you guys do that tonight, but I have one last comment: right now, somehow, the present is bleaker, the past more tarnished and the future is almost nonexistent.