After Calgary’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, there is zero chance the Flames can make the playoffs this year, as their only was to take the full two points.  Andrew Ebbett’s fifth of the season with 62 seconds to go in overtime ended Calgary’s season and handed them their eighth loss in nine games.

What Happened

The Canucks opened the scoring just after the five minute mark thanks to Maxim Lapierre, as he’d push home his eighth of the season at 5:08 on a goalmouth scramble.  It’d mark another game where the Flames would give up a goal in the first six minutes of a hockey game, the fourth consecutive time that’s happened.

The second period saw Calgary tie it on the powerplay with Olli Jokinen getting a muffin of a shot past Roberto Luongo at 5:38 of the second period.  He took a pass from Jarome Iginla on the left side and didn’t get anything close to all of it, which fooled Luongo for his 23rd of the season and a 1-1 tie after two periods.

The third period saw the Flames take their first lead of the game on a shot that was not a muffin.  Mike Cammalleri took a David Moss saucer pass in the high slot and absolutely hammered home his 18th of the season just 51 seconds in.  That set up the tying goal at 11:45 from Marc-Andre Gragnani, as he’d tee up his second of the season from the left point sending this to overtime.

Ebbett’s fifth of the season game with 1:02 to go in the the overtime period, as Sami Salo’s shot would be tipped on his way to Flames goaltender Henrik Karlsson.  Vancouver’s win moves them into first in the Western Conference as they’d take a 3-2 victory over Calgary.

One Good Reason…

…why the Flames lost?  Eh, I don’t know if I can pinpoint one reason on this night, and it doesn’t really matter.  Calgary went out and played a decent hockey game, their first fairly complete game in a long time and were beaten in overtime by a better team.  When it’s all said and done, it doesn’t matter…they played a decent game when they had no chance to make the playoffs.

Red Warrior

I liked Mike Cammalleri in this one.  He was good, scored a nice goal, and was part of Calgary’s best line with Blake Comeau and David Moss, so I’ll give the nod to Cammalleri.

Sum It Up

Well, Tuesday will officially eliminate the Calgary Flames.  When Dallas and San Jose play that night, one team will get above 90 points meaning the Flames will miss the playoffs for a third consecutive year.  I guess that’s all you need to say about this one.

After being all-but-eliminated one night earlier, the Calgary Flames start a string of formality games to finish out their season.  Friday’s 4-1 loss to Colorado was disappointing for a number of different reasons and now will have their professional levels tested against a team fighting for the President’s Trophy.  For the fifth time this season, Calgary will tangle with the Vancouver Canucks this evening.

Calgary Flames 35-29-15, 11th Western Conference

Alex Tanguay-Mike Cammalleri-Jarome Iginla
Curtis Glencross-Olli Jokinen-David Moss
Blake Comeau-Matt Stajan-Lee Stempniak
Tom Kostopoulos-Blair Jones-Tim Jackman

Jay Bouwmeester-Chris Butler
Mark Giordano-Cory Sarich
Scott Hannan-Anton Babchuk

Henrik Karlsson

I have no idea if those lines and pairings will be what we see to start the game tonight, as Brent Sutter put his team in a blender after they fell down 2-0 last night.  Those are the lines and pairings the team started with on Friday night, so it might be what we see to start this game.  There won’t be any returns from injury this evening, however.

As for Karlsson getting the start, you knew he was going to get at least one before the season was over.  Leland Irving is in Abbotsford right now helping Calgary’s AHL club in their playoff quest, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t stay there the rest of the season.  The Flames know what they have in Irving, but there are more questions surrounding what the future holds for Karlsson in the organization.  For that reason, giving him at least one start makes sense.  I just thought the team might wait until they’re officially eliminated.

Speaking of which, the end could officially come tonight if the Flames lose in Vancouver.  A loss by itself won’t eliminate the Flames, but a loss coupled with a Phoenix win will do it for the season.  They’re elimination number is 1.5.

Knowing their season hung in the balance with a pair of home games this week against LA and Colorado, I was extremely disappointed with what we saw from Calgary.  It was the third periods that bothered me most, as they both were just far too much of a formality.  Playing in front of a dedicated group of fans, there is no excuse for an effort level that suggests resignation to the likely result.  They probably weren’t coming back against Colorado, but at least show some push and show some urgency.  Instead, we got listlessness and malaise.  Disappointing.

Vancouver Canucks 48-21-9, 2nd Western Conference

Alex Burrows-Henrik Sedin-Maxim Lapierre
Mason Raymond-Ryan Kesler-David Booth
Chris Higgins-Samuel Pahlsson-Jannik Hansen
Andrew Ebbett-Manny Malhotra-Zack Kassian

Alexander Edler-Marc-Andre Gragnani
Dan Hamhuis-Chris Tanev
Andrew Alberts-Sami Salo

Roberto Luongo

This beat up Canucks team has still won five straight games and now sits just a point back of the St. Louis Blues for the Western Conference lead.  They’ve also lost two straight games against the Calgary Flames, so they’d love nothing more than to run things up on their division rivals at home.  This one worries me for the visitors for that reason.

Vancouver is a tad injured and it starts with Daniel Sedin.  They’re second leading scorer is on the shelf after suffering a concussion on an elbow from Chicago’s Duncan Keith and won’t likely play another game until the regular season is done.  Their blueline is also hurting as they’ll play without Keith Ballard, Aaron Rome, and Kevin Bieksa in this one.  Bieksa is the curious one as he’s missed the last few games with an undisclosed injury, but the feeling is he’ll be ready for the first round of the playoffs.

It wasn’t the worst they’ve played all year, but the Calgary Flames simply didn’t deserve to win their 79th game of the season on Friday night.  To that end, they didn’t, falling down a pair of goals in the first period en route to a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche.  While not mathematically eliminated, the Flames know the focus turns to next year after a seventh loss in eight games.

What Happened

A bad goal started things off in a bad way for the Flames, but they probably deserved to be down 1-0 anyway.  They were outshot 6-2 and spent a good chunk of the first three minutes in their own zone, and on an odd man rush they were victim to some bad luck.  Pouncing on the puck in their own end, the Avalanche came three wide into the offensive zone and after an unsuccessful pass, the puck would find it’s way to Mark Olver.  He’d try to dangle the puck behind Miikka Kiprusoff but would be unsuccessful, however, Jay Bouwmeester would not.  He’d push the puck past Kipper crediting Olver for his fourth of the season at 3:21.  At 10:56, an Erik Johnson shot from the point would be tipped nicely in front by David Jones for his 19th of the season and a 2-0 Colorado lead after one.

The second saw Calgary give it a really good push to get back in this game and had a high number of scoring chances.  Unforunately, Semyon Varlamov was equal to the task, making some really good stops, especially on Calgary’s two powerplay chances.  Then at 8:29 of the period, Milan Hejduk would get a stick on a Gabriel Landeskog shot for his 14th of the season to make the rest of this game a formality.  And that was my biggest problem of the game.

The third period saw the Flames go through the motions in a scenario where urgency, desperation, and intensity needed to be at their highest.  It was very unlikely you were going to see Calgary come back in this one, but don’t go out and play like that’s the case.  Start chasing, start throwing everything into it, and they just didn’t.  They scored a meaningless goal on the powerplay thanks to Jarome Iginla at 19:22 but that was cancelled off five seconds later with a Peter Mueller empty net goal.  It was a third period that the paying public did not deserve.  They deserved more.

One Good Reason…

…why the Flames lost?  They got off to a bad start, they were hemmed in their own end for too long, they scored on themselves and they were behind the eight ball.  Whatever happened after the 2-0 score means very little to me.  We call it “playing the score” and the Avalanche were perfectly content to sit back and protect without any desire to push their attack.  The third period was just going through the motions.  Unacceptable.

Red Warrior

Tim Jackman and Blair Jones.  They were beasts and absolutely hammered the Avalanche third and fourth lines, so good on them.

Sum It Up

I don’t know what else to say.  The team doesn’t deserve to make the playoffs.  In the month of March, they’ve lost seven of their last eight games.  It’s too bad, because they had a shot to be there.

Neither the Calgary Flames nor the Colorado Avalanche are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but they both had their chances hurt severely with shutout losses on Wednesday night.  The Flames fell 3-0 to LA while the Avs dropped a 1-0 decision in Vancouver.  Tonight, the Northwest Division rivals play for the final time this season.

Calgary Flames 35-28-15, 11th Western Conference

Alex Tanguay-Mike Cammalleri-Jarome Iginla
Curtis Glencross-Olli Jokinen-David Moss
Blake Comeau-Matt Stajan-Lee Stempniak
Tom Kostopoulos-Blair Jones-Tim Jackman

Jay Bouwmeester-Chris Butler
Mark Giordano-Scott Hannan
Anton Babchuk-Cory Sarich

Miikka Kiprusoff

With Sarich returning to the Flames lineup, it’ll spell the end of Clay Wilson’s emergency recall with the team.  Wilson had done a decent job of playing third pairing minutes with Calgary and didn’t do a terrible job on the powerplay either.  He’s a decent guy to call up in a pinch and will now go help Abbotsford in their playoff quest.

The Flames signed college free agent Brady Lamb from the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Thursday night, marking the second undrafted NCAA player they’ve brought into the fold in March.  The 6’1, 215 pound defenseman just finished his senior season with the Bulldogs after three seasons with the Calgary Royals.  Jay Feaster is happy to bring him into the organization.

“Brady is a physical defenseman who eliminates time and space down low in the defensive zone and finishes his checks.  He has good vision, a hard shot from the point the gets through traffic, makes quick decisions the the puck, and makes a good first pass.  He has consistently demonstrated strong leadership abilities, and is a hard-nosed competitor.  His work ethic and the way in which he competes have been his calling card throughout his career.  We are pleased to welcome him to our organization.”

It’s another significant signing by the team, mostly because it’s an indication they are looking at different avenues to try and improve their organizational depth.  While the Flames aren’t blessed with a ton of high draft picks in the coming years (or a lot of picks period), it doesn’t mean they can just sit back and let players pass them by.  Undrafted college and junior players don’t always pan out, but there’s next to no risk in signing them and giving them a few years to develop.

Colorado Avalanche 40-33-6, 10th Western Conference

Gabriel Landeskog-Ryan O’Reilly-Steve Downie
Jamie McGinn-Paul Stastny-David Jones
Peter Mueller-Matt Duchene-Mark Olver
Cody McLeod-Jay McClement-Milan Hejduk

Matt Hunwick-Erik Johnson
Jan Hejda-Ryan O’Byrne
Shane O’Brien-Ryan Wilson

Semyon Varlamov

Hoping to snap a four game losing streak, the Avalanche really have no other option but to win their three remaining games and see if they can get a sizable amount of help.  In all reality, a promising second half of the season will likely end up with a disappointing finish and a second straight non-playoff year for the Avs.  That said, they’ve taken some significant steps forward from a year ago when their second half was about as bad a stretch as we’ve seen post-lockout.

O’Reilly’s line may be the one of the most underrated trios in hockey, because they do absolutely everything.  They play against top lines, they’re counted upon to score, and they also are deployed in tough defensive situations.  It’s for that reason I belive Landeskog should be the  Calder Trophy winner.  While Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has the same number of points (49) in 22 fewer games, there are two factors that put Landeskog ahead for me.

First, he’s on a team that is fighting for a playoff spot to the bitter end.  Second, he’s playing much less sheltered minutes, taking a large deal more defensive draws than Nugent-Hopkins.  The Avs aren’t where they are without Landeskog, and for me, that’s why he’s the rookie of the year.

The Calgary Flames still have mathematical life, but realistically, their 3-0 home loss to the LA Kings on Wednesday night was about all she wrote for the 2011-2012 season.  With just four games to go and a maximum of 93 points to be gained, things don’t look good for the Flames, who have now lost six of their last seven games.

What Happened

It was all Kings to start this game, beginning a theme that wouldn’t really stop over the course of the game.  Racking up a ton of shots and scoring chances in the first five minutes, they’d eventually open the scoring at 5:30 thanks to Willie Mitchell.  The LA defender fired a shot from the left point with Justin Williams screening in front.  The shot would beat Miikka Kiprusoff through the wickets for his fifth of the season, a goal that seemed ominous even early on.  Unsuccessful on two powerplays along the way, the Flames trailed by a goal after one.

The second didn’t really see anything change, as they just did not have the puck whatsoever.  On a nice odd man rush, the Kings would open their lead to two thanks to Dustin Brown.  He’d take an Anze Kopitar pass in the slot, slide left, and wire one pass Kiprsuoff for his 20th at 4:22, setting up a very difficult final 35 minutes or so.  With another pair of powerplay chances going for not, Calgary trailed by a pair after 40.

The third was simply a formality, as LA put on absolute clinic on how to shut down a two goal lead.  They gave the Flames a sniff on maybe two occasions and the way Jonathan Quick was playing, 19 shots on goal is not going to be anywhere near enough.  Williams was able to seal the game with 69 seconds to go into an empty net, cashing his 19th to get us to our final score.

One Good Reason…

…why the Flames lost?  Because they were comprehensively outclassed.  This was not close whatsoever, especially when the game was played at even strength.  I’d estimate close to 50% of their scoring opportunities came on their four powerplay chances, and otherwise it was all LA.  Calgary’s top players were crushed by the Richards and Kopitar lines from start to finish, as Iginla et al didn’t even give them a challenge.

Red Warrior

I liked Curtis Glencross tonight.  He was one of the more engaged players on the team, and seemed to throw his body around in an effective way for the most part.  His line was significantly more effective than the Iginla unit, and he was probably the best player on his line tonight.

Sum It Up

In a lot of ways, the final four games of the season are largely a formality.  Calgary can get to 93 points at the very most, and that is very likely not going to be enough to make the postseason in the Western Conference.  Calgary didn’t get killed on the out of town scoreboard with Colorado and Los Angeles losses in regulation; the only thing that went against them was Dallas’s 3-1 win in Edmonton.  As a result, their elimination number has dropped from 4.5 to 3 with four games to go.  An Avalanche team very likely missing the playoffs will be into town on Friday night.

It’s another one of those games for the Calgary Flames as the playoff stakes keep getting higher as the end of the season draws ever closer.  The Flames cannot technically be in a playoff spot when the night is over, but they could do themselves a huge solid by winning their final meeting this season with the LA Kings (7:30 pm, Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960).

Calgary Flames 35-27-15, 11th Western Conference

Alex Tanguay-Mike Cammalleri-Jarome Iginla
Curtis Glencross-Olli Jokinen-David Moss
Blake Comeau-Matt Stajan-Lee Stempniak
Tom Kostopoulos-Blair Jones-Tim Jackman

Jay Bouwmeester-Chris Butler
Mark Giordano-Scott Hannan
Clay Wilson-Anton Babchuk

Miikka Kiprusoff

For a second straight gameday skate, Cory Sarich participated with the team, but he will miss his fourth straight game as he continues to battle back from a concussion sustained eight days ago in Denver.  It was also interesting to note the Flames had a temporary stall up in their locker room for T.J. Brodie who has missed nine games with an upper body injury.  That suggests Brodie has resumed skating.

No lineup changes or shifts whatsoever from Monday’s 5-4 win over the Dallas Stars which is to be expected.  The Flames played a pretty decent game against the Stars and overall have done a good job in three of their last four affairs.

Los Angeles Kings 37-27-12, 9th Western Conference

Dustin Brown-Anze Kopitar-Justin Williams
Dwight King-Mike Richards-Jeff Carter
Dustin Penner-Jarret Stoll-Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford-Colin Fraser-Jordan Nolan

Rob Scuderi-Drew Doughty
Willie Mitchell-Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez-Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick

Quick is getting serious Vezina Trophy consideration, and for good reason.  The Kings starting netminder has given them a chance to win in virtually every single game this season, and is coming off another tough loss to swallow.  Quick gave LA a solid chance to win, allowing just one goal on Monday night in a 1-0 shutout loss to the Vancouver Canucks.  It’s been an all-too-regular occurence with the Kings this year, as they’ve been shutout ten times.  Even more amazingly, they’ve failed to give Quick regular run support; he’s allowed opponents one goal or less in 24 games this year, yet LA has gone just 15-5-4 in those games.

The addition of Carter has seemingly woken up the Kings offence, however, as they scored 22 goals in their recent six game win streak.  That said, in their two most recent games (both losses), LA has scored just twice.  Carter has opened things up a little bit by giving them two scoring lines, while the play of the top lines has also helped things along.

That top line is being lead by Williams right now who has five goals and ten points over his last 11 games.  He’s been one of the most consistent forwards on the team of late.

It’s the first of what will need to be many more wins down the stretch here, but it’s a start for the Calgary Flames.  The Flames battled back from two seperate one goal deficits on Monday night to top the Dallas Stars 5-4 in their final meeting this season.  The win snaps Calgary’s five game losing skid with five games remaining.

What Happened

This one got off to a nightmare start with Flames killer Jamie Benn opening the scoring 26 seconds in, firing a knuckleball at Miikka Kiprusoff and beating him for his 25th of the season.  It was a bit of a fire drill start for Calgary as they allowed a ton of odd man rushes but also had a few of their own.  On a Trevor Daley high sticking call, the Flames would draw even at 6:53 thanks to Olli Jokinen.  He’d take a pass from Lee Stempniak in the slot and wire home his 22nd of the season, snapping a seven game pointless drought in the process.  We had a tie game after one period.

Benn would score early in the second to set up a wild final frame, getting his 26th on a wicked shot from the high slot good for his 26th of the season 44 seconds in.  But that’s the last time Dallas would lead.  At 9:16, Blake Comeau was gifted the tying goal when Mike Ribeiro through it out to him in the slot from behind the net.  Comeau’s fifth set up Mike Cammalleri’s 17th of the season 45 seconds later, converting a Jarome Iginla pass for Calgary’s first lead of the game.  But at 14:29, Ribeiro would get his gaffe back by converting on his 17th on a goal mouth scramble, giving us a tie game with just over five minutes to go.  On another Dallas penalty, it’d be advantage Flames once again thanks to mark Giordano, as he slapped an Iginla pass past Kari Lehtonen from the point for his ninth at 16:58.  Then, on another powerplay, Alex Tanguay would give the Flames their biggest lead of the evening with 28 seconds to go in the period.  His 13th of the season came from Cammalleri and put Calgary in the drivers seat for the final 20.

It was a Dallas powerplay marker that would get them back within one at 5:24 of the third, as Phillip Larsen would follow up his own rebound for his second of the season.  The best chance for the Stars to tie came midway through the period when Cammalleri coughed the puck up at center and sent Loui Eriksson in on a break, only to have Kiprusoff save the day, preserving Calgary’s 5-4 win.

One Good Reason…

…why the Flames won?  The powerplay.  Calgary scored three goals on the man advantage, converting at a very nice 50% for the evening.  While it’s been a bit of a problem as of late, they have scored multiple powerplay goals in two of their last three games.  On this night, it was the reason why they were able to bulge their lead, and it ended up being very important.

Red Warrior

I’ll give it to the captain.  Jarome Iginla finished the night with a pair of assists and was the driving force on Calgary’s top line, which was largely effective against Dallas.  Iginla snapped a personal string of five straight games without a point, and it couldn’t come at a more desperate time.  The Flames needed this one, and they were lead by their top players.

Sum It Up

The win only gets Calgary one point closer to a playoff spot, and it doesn’t change how tough their situation is.  That said, they were able to snap a five game losing skid and they started a very impressive stretch with a ton of home games with some confidence.  The Flames still have important head-to-head games with Colorado and Los Angeles, so of course it isn’t over yet.

With their playoff hopes dangling by a very thin thread, the Calgary Flames will finish their season series with the Dallas Stars tonight at the Saddledome (7 pm, Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960).  The Flames fell 4-1 to these very same Stars on Saturday afternoon, stretching their losing streak to five in the process.

Calgary Flames 34-27-15, 11th Western Conference

Alex Tanguay-Mike Cammalleri-Jarome Iginla
Curtis Glencross-Olli Jokinen-David Moss
Blake Comeau-Matt Stajan-Lee Stempniak
Tom Kostopoulos-Blair Jones-Tim Jackman

Jay Bouwmeester-Chris Butler
Mark Giordano-Scott Hannan
Clay Wilson-Anton Babchuk

Miikka Kiprusoff

Roman Horak and Lance Bouma will sit this one out tonight as healthy scratches while Cory Sarich will miss his third straight game with a concussion.  The good news is he was back on the ice this morning with the main group taking part in full skate.  Head Coach Brent Sutter says Sarich is unavailable for tonight, but if he’s back skating, he can’t be too far off a return.  T.J. Brodie has yet to resume skating on the Flames blueline, however.

The Flames are struggling to score right now, and a big reason for that is their lack of production from their top players.  Jarome Iginla has gone pointless in five straight games after putting up 14 points in the eight games prior while Olli Jokinen has gone without a point in seven consecutive games.  Both Alex Tanguay and Curtis Glencross have just one assist over their last five games individually.  When you’re not getting things from your top offensive players, you’re going to have some large production problems.

The largest issue right now for the Flames is time.  Their elimination number has fallen to five games to the currently eighth place LA Kings, and their road to the playoff target 94 points is not an easy one.  For that to happen for Calgary, they’d have to go 5-0-1 in their final six games, and with five of those six games against playoff worthy opposition, that record seems very unlikely.  That said, the Flames had better play like they’ve still got a chance, because even if it’s very slim, playing like that’s the case would be very disappointing.

Dallas Stars 41-29-5, 3rd Western Conference

Loui Eriksson-Mike Ribeiro-Michael Ryder
Jamie Benn-Steve Ott-Adam Burish
Eric Nystrom-Vernon Fiddler-Radek Dvorak
Brenden Morrow-Tom Wandell-Tomas Vincour

Sheldon Souray-Stephane Robidas
Trevor Daley-Adam Pardy
Phillip Larsen-Alex Goligoski

Kari Lehtonen

Lehtonen’s strong performance in Saturday’s home win over Calgary was his 31st victory of the season, and he’s been red hot of late.  Lehtonen has won four of his last six starts, posting a 1.65 goals against average and a .942 save percentage over that same span.  He was one of the biggest reasons Dallas was a team in the playoff mix this year, and he’s a huge reason why they’re battling for a Pacific Division title this year.

The Ribeiro line has been rolling of late, with the aforementioned center picking up four assists over his last three games.  He assisted on Ryder’s game winner in the first period which also served to continue the Newfoundland native’s career season.  Ryder now has 33 goals on the season, 16 of those being scored since the All Star break.

You can expect to see Morrow pop up to the second line sometime during this game, maybe even to start.  He spent some time on the fourth line on Saturday as the coaching staff hasn’t been thrilled with his play of late.  Morrow did score his tenth of the season late in that contest, sealing the game into an empty net; he has three points in his first seven games after missing 18 with an injury.

The Calgary Flames put in a valiant effort to try and equalize a one goal game in the third period, but in the end, falling down two goals in the first period was their undoing in a tough 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.  It serves as a fifth straight loss for the Flames and puts another huge dent in their chances for the Western Conference playoffs.

What Happened

Things got off on the wrong foot for the visitors just 97 seconds in thanks to Jamie Benn, as the former Kelowna Rocket would wraparound the Flames net and slip the puck underneath Miikka Kiprusoff for his 23rd of the season.  At 7:17, Michael Ryder would snap home his 33rd of the season, taking a pass from Mike Ribeiro in the slot and easily fending off a checking Blair Jones for a two goal Stars lead.  But just past the midway mark of the opening frame, Calgary put in one of their best shifts of the evening and capitalized on it.  Anton Babchuk took a pass from Mark Giordano at the left point and slipped through a perfect pass to Mike Cammalleri in the right circle.  The returning sniper would fire home his 16th of the season, getting the Flames within one after 20 minutes.

The second half of the first was fairly even, and so was the entire middle frame even though Calgary fired more shots on Kari Lehtonen in the Dallas net.  The Flames outshot the Stars 14-6 but were unable to convert very many of those shots into quality scoring chances, keeping them down a goal heading into the final period.

The third saw the Flames really start to do a good job of turning zone time and shots into real scoring chances, but it quickly turned into the Lehtonen show.  The Stars goaltender made a number of huge stops in the period as a chasing Calgary team did a good job of creating to tie the match, but when you fall down by two goals, sometimes you’re not going to come back and tie.  The Flames didn’t, and Dallas hammered home a massive blow at 16:27 after a defensive breakdown.  With the Stars cycling down low, Olli Jokinen lost his assignment and Benn was left all alone in the right circle.  Steve Ott found him wide open and Benn wasn’t going to miss that type of opportunity, and his second of the night allowed Brenden Morrow’s empty netter at 18:32 to get us to our 4-1 final score.

One Good Reason…

…why the Flames lost?  A bad start, plain and simple.  Things were pretty even for the middle 30 minutes leading to the third period, but most of the time when you trail after 40 minutes, you’re not going to tie things.  Yeah, the Flames outchanced the Stars in the third, but that’s what happens in hockey and Lehtonen earns his paycheck night in and night out.  Calgary could very well have tied this game, but they didn’t because they trailed after two periods of play against a team fighting for a playoff spot.  The Flames have trailed after 40 minutes in 30 of their 76 games this season, and most of the time, you’re going to lose in regulation.

Red Warrior

Mike Cammalleri.  Brent Sutter switched his lines up very early in the game putting Cammalleri with Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay, and he then proceeded to use the trio in a very offensive role.  It was the most dominant line for the Flames on the afternoon and if they want to keep the hope alive, that’s how they’re going to have to play on Monday night.

Sum It Up

Did Calgary deserve to lose this game 4-1?  Probably not.  But Dallas was 100% deserving of the win.  The Stars controlled the first period for the most period, staked themselves to a lead, and played fairly effectively with it for the remainder of the game.  I don’t come away from this game saying “Calgary deserved the win” at all; they could have tied it, but they didn’t, and they fall further back of the playoffs.

For a third straight game, the Calgary Flames went to extra time, and for a third straight game they’d be unable to secure the extra point falling 3-2 in a shootout at the hands of the Minnesota Wild.  The loss is tough to take for obvious playoff reasons, but also because they coughed up a two goal lead to a non-playoff team.

What Happened

It was all Calgary in the first period firing 17 shots on Josh Harding in the opening 20 minutes, thanks in large part to a ton of powerplay time.  After being unsuccessful on their first two man advantages, the Flames would finally score a man up thanks to Lee Stempniak.  He’d grab a loose puck to the left of the Minnesota crease and loft in his 13th of the season at 18:54 with Steve Kampfer in the penalty box for interference.  The powerplay goal would snap a string of 15 opportunities without a goal and gave the Flames a one goal lead heading into the second.

The second period saw the Wild get themselves in more and more penalty trouble, and it would bite them…but not as hardly as it could have.  With Tom Gilbert in the penalty box for high sticking serving a double minor, Nate Prosser would take an ill-advised call for closing his hand on the puck and giving the Flames an extended amount of time 5-on-3.  Anton Babchuk would make the Wild pay, taking a weak clearing attempt off the left boards and gaining some extra space to let loose his monster of a slap shot, beating Harding for his first of the season at 1:38.  Because of the timing of Babchuk’s goal, Calgary had some more extended time with the two man advantage yet would not be able to make good on a number of chances.  Up 2-0, Curtis Glencross would take a slashing penalty to give Minnesota a powerplay, and the Wild would make good.  Taking a pass at the left circle from Devin Setoguchi, Dany Heatley would snap a career high eight game goalless drought for his 21st of the season.  Heatley’s powerplay marker gave the Wild a fighting chance heading to the third.

It was shell city for the Flames in the third period as Minnesota started to push hard for the equalizer, outshooting the Flames 12-3 in the final frame.  At 12:23 the Wild would draw even on a play that would go to video review.  With a goal-mouth scramble ensuing around Miikka Kiprusoff, Darroll Powe would poke the puck juuuuuuuuust past the Flames goalie to tie the game at two.  Neither team would score in the remaining seven minutes and for a third straight game, it was off to overtime.

Mark Giordano had the best chance of the extra frame with Mark Giordano hammering a shot off the inside post from the left circle beating Harding clean.  However, with no overtime goals, it was shootout time as Calgary would look to figure out their woes.  In trying to do that, Brent Sutter would change up his regular shooters going with Matt Stajan, Stempniak, and Blair Jones all being thwarted by Harding.  The good news is, Kiprusoff would stop Erik Christensen, Matt Cullen, and Mikko Koivu, sending this to a fourth round.  That fourth round would see Setoguchi score and put the pressure on Blake Comeau who would be unsuccessful sending Calgary to a 3-2 shootout loss.

One Good Reason…

…why the Flames lost?  As much as the shootout decisions will be ripped apart, I point to much earlier than that as to why Calgary lost this one.  After Heatley scored on Glencross’s silly penalty, the Flames went into a very noticeable shell trying to protect their one goal lead.  It was especially prevelant in the third period, which allowed Minnesota to run up the scoring chances and shots on goal.  You shouldn’t be outshot like that by this Wild team, and it’s the reason why they tied it which set up Minnesota’s opportunity to win it in a shootout.

Red Warrior

I’ll go Lee Stempniak, as I thought he was the best player on the Calgary third line tonight which seemed to be their most effective unit from start to finish.  Stempniak scored the powerplay goal in the first period and was in on a few scoring chances for the team while spending a good amount of team at the right end of the ice.

Sum It Up

Well, this one hurts.  Giving up a two goal lead to the Minnesota Wild and losing in a shootout makes gaining that single point of little consolation.  At the time of this writing, there are still plenty of important out of town games going on, so we won’t have an elimination number till later on.  With two of a possible six points against the three worst teams in the Western Conference at this time of year just can’t happen, and this one may be the most frustrating of the three.