Postgame: All About Iggy

The title of tonight’s postgame article would hold regardless if there was a milestone or not, because on the back of their captain, the Calgary Flames were able to triumph 3-2 over the St. Louis Blues.  They probably won’t make the playoffs, but Jarome’s effort was impressive, and this night was all about 1000 for Flames fans…as in career point number for the captain, who got there by potting the winning goal late in the third period.

A rather pedestrian first period had the Blues scoring the only goal, thanks to a Matt D’Agostini goal on the powerplay, as he’d hammer home a rebound just in front of the blue paint for his 21st of the season.  There wasn’t a whole lot going on at even strength in the opening 20 minutes, with St. Louis coming out ahead on the scoreboard, on the shot clock and on Ken’t scoring chances.

Calgary started to tilt things a little bit in the second period, and Jaroslav Halak had to come up large a few times, especially a couple times on the captain.  The Flames had a some chances on the powerplay had them rolling, but it was the Blues who would score the next goal, and it came on the tail end of a man advantage of their own.  As a powerplay was expiring, Kevin Shattenkirk went deep and threaded a gorgeous pass from the right corner in front to David Backes, who would tap in an easy one for his 29th on the year.  But shortly thereafter, the Iginla show would start.  On a nice pass from Alex Tanguay, Iginla was fed in the slot and went roof on the backhand for his 38th and had the Flames within one heading into the third period.

Things were fairly even in the final frame, and both teams had some opportunities, and after a Blues giveaway in the neutral zone, the Flames would even things up at 8:01.  On a two-on-one, Tanguay would feed Iginla, who would feed Tanguay right back and an assist would be good for point 999 for Jarome; it was also good for Tanguay’s 20th of the season.  Cue the moment at 14:57, as Iginla (who was very, very strong) somehow got behind the St. Louis D, and guess who’d find him…Tanguay’s pass sprung the captain down the right wing, and he’d make no mistake for the millenium point…his 39th goal and 1000th career point was a massive one, and Calgary would finish off an impressive 3-2 win.

…why the Flames won?  Well, I’ll keep with the theme of the post…Jarome Iginla.  He really did take the team on his back, and I thought he had one of his best games of the season, and he was the largest reason why Calgary won this hockey game.  The Flames were out of it in the first period, good in the second, and even in the third…but they were the ones who got the last goal, and Iginla was the best Flames player on the ice.

With an honorable mention to Daymond Langkow, we’ll go with that Iggy guy again.  Iginla is a first ballot Hall of Famer, the best player to ever don a Calgary jersey, and a class act.  Seeing him get to 1000 the way he did was very fitting, as this was Jarome’s best game in a long, long time.  He was dominant from start to finish, he took the game over at a key time, and scored the winning goal.  77 players have reached the 1000 point mark, and Iginla is very fitting of being in that company.

We’ll bring it back to reality a tad here to finish things off.  The Flames won, which is nice, but the Blackhawks also won which leaves us with this…

The road to a playoff spot for Calgary is improbable and will likely end soon.  That said, there’s something to take from a team who keeps finding ways to earn points.  Sunday is another winnable game against a baaaad Colorado team, so while it’s likely over, it’s still not technically over.