I guess my suicidal threat worked because Calgary began the month of November properly with a 3-0 shut-out victory over the Wild. I found, watching this game, that the Flames were a much closer approximation of the succesful team they were previously, relative to the last several games I watched. There was a generous amount of hitting, lead by the likes of Rhett Warrener, and high tempo forechecking. The defensive coverage and play of Kiprusoff were galatically better as compared to the last time these two clubs met (6-3, Wild win). Hence the 0 goals against.
That being said, Calgary still has issues concerning their offensive play. Watching the game last night, I was often given the impression that the Flames are made up entirely of high-energy 4th line players - you know...the kind of player that is fiesty, plays physical, is dependable defensively...and has hands of granite. The Flames goals last night were, in order: deflection, deflection, empty-net. Hardly a cavalcade of dangles and tape-to-tape passes. There were no cross-crease feeds buried and no slapshots hammered into the top corner. When opportunities for those types of goals occured, the puck was almost invariably shot wide, bobbled, misplayed or fanned upon. The Flames basically rode their defensive play and some fortunate bounces to win last night...and that's not going to work all season.
And now, the Positives:
- A much needed win against a divisional rival. Good way to start out the new month.
- Kiprusoff solid in net. Again. Very deserving of the shut-out.
- Defense and penalty killing were more than adequate for the full 60 minutes. HU-ZAH!
- Iginla with 2 more goals, extending his point streak to 7 games.
- The play of Chuck Kobasew. He was frequently the best player on the ice. Wasn't awarded on the scoresheet despite creating a number of scoring opportunities. A treat to watch.
- The numerous thundering hits by Rhett Warrener. Set a physical tone for the game.
- Tony Amonte. Was skating and forechecking with authority...and his fight was great. Mostly due to his "raise the roof" gesture to the crowd afterwards.
- Dion Phaneuf. Has decided that getting the puck on net is more important than shooting it hard; rewarded with a goal and an assist.
Negatives:
- See "offensive play" rant above. STILL unable to score more than 3 goals. 14 games and counting.
- Jordan Leopold still pointless. 14 games and counting.
- Jarome Iginla's last 3 goals have been: deflection, deflection, empty-net. That's great and everything, but we need Iginla to be scoring slap-shot from the side-boards and snapshot through the five-hole type goals...I know Im nit-picking now, but...
- Secondary scoring (Donovan, Nilson, McCarty, Reinprecht, etc.) fail to make an appearance on the scoresheet again.
- Edmoton wins their 3rd straight. Not part of the Calgary game I'll grant you. But still. BOOOOOOOOO.
Anyways, the Flames have an ideal opportunity to make it 2 in a row (for the first time this year) against the struggling Blue Jackets. At this point I'd be willing to do some pretty unsavory things in exchange for a second Flames win (in which they score more than 3 goals)...
Next up...general NHL talkings.
