The Flames served up a mixed bag full of good and awful yesterday in their victory over the LA Kings.
The Good:
The emotional return of Craig Conroy could only have been better if Iginla was on the ice with him. Conroy played close to 20 minutes, scored 2 goals and was a +2 on the evening. While I don't think his relative "explosion" of offense should set expectations for the rest of the season, it's nice to see that Conroy is still capable of contributing.
Miikka Kiprusoff was amazing (again) and probably the primary reason the Flames won. In the last 4 games, he's only allowed 6 goals.
Alex Tanguay and Kristian Huselius. Both of these guys continue to step forward in the absence of Iginla. Calgary almost always looked like a threat to score when one of Tanguay or Juice was on the ice last night. Tangs now has 5 points in his last 2 games while Huselius extended his point scoring streak to 10 games.
David Moss, the no-name mid-season call-up, is filling in adequately in a top 6 role while Kobasew and Iginla are sidelined. And "adequate" for a fresh faced AHL'er is "admirable". Another 2 points for the rookie, including the game winning tip-in.
Dion Phaneuf and Roman Hamrlik. What can I say? Both guys are looking pretty damn solid back there. In addition, Dion keeps racking up points. He's currently on pace for a 57 point sophomore season.
First team to 20 home wins this season. The victory also tied the Flames with the scummy Vancouver Canucks for 1st place in the NW Division.
The Awful:
Despite the win, the Flames looked decidedly lackluster for at least half of the game. After dominating the Kings for the first 30 minutes, Calgary sat back and watched their opponents scratch and claw their way back into the contest. Had the Flames had anyone besides Kipper in net (or Brodeur or Luongo) the game may not have ended in Calgary's favor.
Still some supporting cast issues. Granted, Calgary is kinda thin up front with the injuries to Kobasew, Iginla and now Langkow, but it's starting to look nigh impossible to get consistent quality minutes from guys like Nilson. And while it's nice to have him around for certain situations, it's plain as the nose on Ricci's face that Godard can't do much besides fight.
On a related issue, Matthew Lombardi is going through his toughest stretch of the season. He took turns being either ineffectual or just downright bad last night. While Lombo is most certainly struggling, it bothered me that he garnered absolutely no PK time against the Kings, despite being the most dangerous Flame while down a man thus far this season. Conroy's back, he played well and that's great. But Lombardi has proven that he can be a productive top 6 player to this team and is an essential component to the future of the Calgary Flames. I earnestly hope Playfair gives him the chance to play through his problems.
As mentioned, Langkow left in the second period with an as of yet undetermined "upper body" injury. Sucks to have another guy in the midst of a career season go down with injury. I guess the silver lining is the Conroy acquisition coudln't have been more perfectly timed.
Overall, great to get the win and see Conroy return with a bang. Crappy that the Flames can't seem to put in a full 60 minute effort right now though. And when's the last time we outshot anyone? Hopefully, as the team gets healthier, the efforts will become more consistent from start to finish...
Next up - Columbus (Iggy's Return??)
