Post-Game: Spoil Sports

The Calgary Flames hit the road on Friday night, heading down to the heart of Texas – Dallas, Texas – to visit the Stars. With Dallas in the thick of the playoff hunt, the Flames were sure to be in for an intense 60 minutes of hockey. With fourth-string goalie Joey MacDonald in net, they overcame a rocky start and played a strong final 20 minutes and gave themselves a chance to win.

And then they won. Again. Against a team fighting for their playoff lives. With a key goal scored by a rookie.

The Stars got out of the gate quick, generating a few chances and out-shooting the Flames early – although the Flames managed to keep them to the outside for the most part. Each team had a solid chance during the period, but the Flames came on late after their rough start. Shots were 10-9 Calgary in the first, though they dug themselves out of a 6-0 shot hole early. But no goals were scored in the first.

It was goals a-plenty in the second period. Antoine Roussel put Dallas up 1-0 just 13 seconds into the period. It may have tipped off a defender’s stick, but Joey MacDonald probably wants it back either way. Mike Cammalleri answered back six minutes into the period; Joe Colborne won a board battle and fed it to Cammalleri, who put it top shelf over Tim Thomas. The Flames kept pushing for a go-ahead goal, couldn’t capitalize on their chances, and then gave up two goals late in the period – nearly identical tip-in efforts from Jamie Benn and Erik Cole. We headed into the break with the Flames trailing 3-1. The Flames led in shots again by a 10-8 margin.

The Stars played keep-away for much of the third, largely keeping Calgary to the outside. Neither team generated scoring chances, until the Flames kicked it into high gear late in the game. Paul Byron scored his 4th of the year on a power-play. Mike Cammalleri jammed home a rebound of a T.J. Brodie point shot to tie things up late. Neither team took many chances once the game was tied up, so we headed to overtime. Flames out-shot the Stars 9-7 in the third.

Overtime solved nothing, with a couple scoring chances and shot on goal for each side. Jordie Benn scored in the shootout to give the Stars a lead, but Sean Monahan scored to tie it up, and then Corban Knight – fresh off his first NHL goal on Wednesday – got the game-deciding goal, beating Tim Thomas.

Dallas came out of the gates strong and then faded, especially in the latter part of the third. The Flames stumbled to start but made adjustments, coming out in the third period down 3-1 and playing a smart, aggressive game. The Colborne-Backlund-Cammalleri line scored twice.

And then Sean Monahan and Corban Knight added their efforts to give the pesky Flames two points.

I hate choosing these things because there’s usually a bunch of contenders. Tonight, let’s go with Mike Cammalleri, who had two goals, was buzzing around the net all night long and arguably had his best hockey game in literally months.

Honourable mention to Joey MacDonald, who played his first NHL hockey in months and months, and gave the Flames the chance to win it with some key stops.

The Flames won! They hit the road immediately, jetting to Glendale, Arizona to play the Phoenix Coyotes. Game time is 8pm MT on Hockey Night in Canada.