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I wasn’t the only one a little surprised when the news came down that Miikka Kiprusoff would get the start in net for the Calgary Flames Saturday night in Toronto…but I think we can all say it wasn’t such a bad decision. Especially after Kipper made 38 saves to backstop the Flames to a 5-2 win in Toronto, their first win in TO since December of 2000.
Now, this was not a great hockey game for the Calgary Flames…that goes without saying. They were okay in the first period but too loose, and that carried over and got worse in the second period…when you’re being outshot 20-4 in any period, it’s all you need to know. And it’s all you needed to know about the 2nd period in this hockey game. They were loose, they were not playing as 5 man units, and they weren’t skating. BUT, they still exited the middle frame leading by a 3-2 score.
The Flames are now 10-0-1 when leading after 2 periods of play, and once again, the team came out to play when the game was on the line…they shut things down in the 3rd period and scored 2 big goals. So, once again, it wasn’t perfect, but by hook or by crook…the Flames still lead into the third period. And once again, they made sure the lead wasn’t going to get away. So we can pick things apart, but the fact of the matter is, the Calgary Flames are finding ways to win. In mid-November, that’s not a bad trait to be talking about.
What a game for both Robyn Regehr and Dion Phaneuf; both were +4 and both were very good all night long. For Regehr, he’s now +13 in his last 11 games after starting the season -6. Dustin Boyd was very good once again, coming away with 2 points and he had a strong game for the second straight night. There’s a bit of a groundswell to see Boyd on the PP…after these last 2 games, I’m not going to disagree with that. Oh…and that Kiprusoff guy? He’s all right. In his last 5 games, #34 has made 157 saves on 162 shots which is good for a .969% save percentage.
The Flames get back at it on Tuesday…they earn 5 of a possible 6 points on a 3 game road trip. Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Steinberg960.
I think Brent was the most disappointed coach I’ve ever seen interviewed after a 5-2 win for his team. Despite the 3rd period being decently strong for the team, I think Brent steamed about that 2nd period all the way back to Calgary.
- Bob in the AbbeyAs he said, his message has been received, but they can not implement it for the whole 60 minutes. But if they can keep getting wins I think the fan base will be patient enough that they may have time to get it all together.
I am thinking if they can do this up until the end of March and then put everything together to be that dominant team we have seen glimpses of, it will bode well for a successful play-off run.
Not that it works that way in pro sports, or life, but I can always hope.
Not sure if I agree with the decision to play Kipper, we won the game because of Kipper and I’m thrill with that, but I’d like to think perhaps the team would’ve played tighter defensively if McE was in net; now having said that, that’s been the expectation in the past but they ended up playing some of the sloppiest games in front of poor McE. The last Dallas game was a big improvement but still could’ve been better, so I was hoping Saturday night was going to be the night we’d see that. Had we been able to win the TO game with McE in net instead, imagine the confidence this team will have knowing they can win no matter who’s behind them?
Off topic, Flames have been awesome in getting the early lead this season, but I also think it’s a big reason why they get overwhelmed by the opposition’s attacks at times and consistently get outshot; partly due to the team letting off the gas like most obeserver will point to right away, but I think it also drives the other team to play harder with extra energy to counter-attack knowing that if they don’t, it could be a blowout as there’s still plenty of time to go. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not thinking they should stop scoring so early, it’s been a refreshing change from the past…
- Dave listening from Peru