Postgame: Loving February

The Calgary Flames have scored 14 goals on Valentine’s Day over the last two seasons, including five in a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.  On top of their success on Cupid’s day, Calgary is also 6-0-2 since the calendar turned to the second month, moving them just a point back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.  They are catching some bounces, riding a red hot goaltender, and most importantly, getting points.

I wrote my entire postgame and then our stupid platform lost all my work, so this is what you get:

1. Calgary. Alex Tanguay 7 (Olli Jokinen, T.J. Brodie) 4:43
2. Calgary. Olli Jokinen 18 (Alex Tanguay, Jarome Iginla) 8:13
3. Toronto. Tyler Bozak 13 (Joffrey Lupul, Phil Kessel) 16:42

4. Calgary. Paul Byron 3 (Penalty Shot) 9:15

5. Calgary. Blake Comeau 4 (Mike Cammalleri, Mark Giordano) 15:09
6. Calgary. Jarome Iginla 22 (Alex Tanguay) 17:44

…why the Flames won?  They were a bit better than the Leafs in two specific reasons.  First, they did a much better job of turning zone time into real scoring chances.  Second, they got much better goaltending from Miikka Kiprusoff.

Alex Tanguay.  Even though the top line ended up getting outchanced, they were very dangerous offensively, and to me this is Tanguay’s best hockey since he rejoined the Flames 19 months ago.  He was dangerous every time he was on the ice on Tuesday and it needs to continue.

It was all roses on the out of town scoreboard with Dallas and Minnesota losing in regulation.  If Calgary can somehow find a way to ride this for the next ten games or so, they’ll start getting healthier and may find themselves protecting a playoff spot as opposed to chasing one.  The next two games are rather important, however, with crucial road games in Dallas and Los Angeles.