It is entirely appropriate that the Flames lost a defensive-minded battle against the Oilers the same day I posted an entry decrying Calgary's lack of offense (resulting in an unimpressive goal differential stat so far this season). Thank you, Flames, for making me look like I know what Im talking about. The game on Friday was a decent one, albeit a disappointing 1 goal effort by the Flames. Disappointing not because the Oil played poorly - they were clearly the better team on this night - but because the Flames were playing an Edmonton team backed by a third string goaltender and lacking a certain 30 minute/night workhorse named "Pronger". Which means, from a Calgary fan's perspective, that your favortite team could only muster 1 measely goal against an adversary with an ECHL goalie playing behind defensmen named Igor Ulanov and Cory Cross. Ouch. The plus side is, I suppose, garnering a single point despite the shoot-out loss. The other, other negative would be, of course, the shoot-out loss. 4 Calgary shooters, 0 goals. In fact, only Kobasew (the 4th shooter) managed to get the puck on net at all. The first three (Iginla, Amonte, Phaneuf), hit the post or missed the goal entirely. Oh, and the winning shooter for Edmonton? Fernando Pisani! WHO? Exactly. That's a salt-in-the-wound kinda fact right there.
Enough of the foreplay. Positives and Negatives Time.
Positives:
- The play of Kiprusoff. He's the primary reason Calgary got a point out of this game.
- Marcus Nilson. Was moved to play with Iginla for the latter half of the night due to his excellent play. Scored the game tying goal when it seemed the Flames were dead in the water (if water means Oilers zone).
- Dion Phaneuf. Seemed to be the only Flame capable of carrying the puck over Edmonton's blueline.
Negatives:
- Flames lose to a team lacking it's best player. Seems to be a theme to this year's Calgary Flames (see games against Wild, Ducks, Sharks as well).
- Powerplay and Offense. No real scoring chances to speak of all night, aside from overtime period. The puck seemed to change into a tennis ball on Flames players sticks as soon as they entered Edmonton's end of the rink.
- Damond Langkow. Just loves to shoot the puck over the net. All the time.
- Jarome Iginla. While he was a force all night, he couldn't seem to convert any of his chances, particularly the one in overtime. I think he has all of 2 assists in the last 4 or 5 games as well.
- Andrew Ference. Of course. Another bonehead Ference give-away, another opposition goal. Not sure how many times Im gonna have to say something like this. Is a team (defensemen) worst -3.
- Shoot-out performance. Calgary's 3 top shooters can't even get the puck on net, let alone in it.
With all that said, Calgary is still looking at a very successful 10-1-1 November. However, the (homestand) party is over. The Flames start a brutal roadtrip tomorrow night against the Predators. After Nashville, Calgary has to contend with Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Jersey and then come home again to face Ottawa. In that order. That means 2 of the top teams in the West + two of the top teams in the East + the offensive abilties of Crosby and company + Martin Broduer. Awww crap...
This next series of games will certainly test Calgary's defense, character and goaltending. It may also fully expose the short-comings of the Flames pop-gun offense. The Flames won't be able to eek-out 1 goal ties against Philly or 3-2 come-from-behind-in-the-third-period victories over Ottawa. Calgary will need to have all cylinders firing akin to their recent wins over Phoenix and Vancouver in order to have any sort of success in the first half of December.
