Post-Game: They Beat Carey Price Five Times

After going 4-2-0 on their season-opening six game road trip, I’ve learned not to doubt the Calgary Flames. But hey, they were playing Montreal at home, where the Habs are undefeated, so let’s just say the odds were stacked against them.

But then the Flames proved themselves ignorant of the odds – like the Han Solo of the Western Conference (“Never tell me the odds!”) – and beat Montreal 6-2 to win their season series with the old rivals.

It’s been a strange season.

The Flames were quite good in the first period. They led in shots 19-4 and shot attempts 27-11, but Montreal led in face-offs 13-8. They also scored twice, both times with similar play set-ups: Johnny Gaudreau carried the puck into the zone, waited for his linemates to join the rush, then set them up for goals. Early in the period, Josh Jooris jammed home a rebound of a Dennis Wideman shot to make it 1-0. Later, Markus Granlund redirected a Jiri Hudler shot past Carey Price to double the lead. It was a fun period of hockey, much resembling the three periods of awesome hockey in Calgary earlier this week.

The Habs really pressed back in the second period. After all, they were down two goals at home. However, they couldn’t generate much in the meaty areas of the ice and were kept off the scoreboard. The Flames, however, added to their goal tally, with Curtis Glencross redirecting a T.J. Brodie shot past Price to make it 3-0. The Flames led in shots by a slim 11-7 margin, shot attempts were even at 24-24, while Montreal led in face-offs 9-7.

In the third, the Habs continued to press and finally broke through. Less than a minute into the third, Max Pacioretty beat Hiller to make it 3-1. The Habs continued to generate traffic and time in Calgary’s zone, but couldn’t get any closer. The Flames put the game out of reach via a gorgeous T.J. Brodie outlet pass to Josh Jooris, who beat Carey Price (on his second breakaway of the game) to make it 4-1. Mark Giordano fed Lance Bouma on a two-on-one a few minutes later to make it 5-1. Lars Eller scored to make it 5-2 late in the period, but Mark Giordano scored an empty-netter to close things out for the road team. Montreal led in shots (9-6), shot attempts (23-14) and face-off wins (15-5), but lost anyway because they gave up many goals beforehand.

The Flames scored a lot. They scored a lot because they out-worked and out-hustled the Habs in the first two periods (and then hung on). Oh, and they used their speed to get a lot of scoring opportunities right out in front, which allowed them to beat Carey Price.

And limiting Montreal’s power-play chances (by staying out of the box) worked wonders, too.

T.J. Brodie. Three assists and a team-leading 24:42 of ice-time. Brodie continues to impress.

Josh Jooris scored twice and was pretty good. And Johnny Gaudreau continues to be a pretty solid hand.

(FLAMES IN BLUE)

The Flames improve to 7-4-2 on the year (and improve their road record to 5-2-0).

They’re back in action on Tuesday when they travel to the capital of America to close out their season series with the Washington Capitals. That game starts at 5pm MT and airs on Sportsnet West (and Sportsnet 960 The Fan).