The Flames pulled out their second victory of the year, making a lie out of all my fears and 5-2 prediction from yesterday.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much I found encouraging in the win: Calgary was on the good end of the officiating (despite the baffling 9 minute PK in the first period) and, as noted, the Caps are lousy on special teams currently.
The boys were still outplayed at ES, albeit marginally. The worst part about those corsi rates is the figures put up by the Flames big guns - Iginla through Phaneuf were all in the red last night. Jarome and Dion in particular looked like blind infants swimming in Oatmeal for most of the game - just bad decisions and poor execution all over the ice.
The suck extended into the PP, which was just ghastly. Iginla scored thanks to a gift give-away on a 5on3, but otherwise the man advantage was limp and ineffectual. Hell, Iginla, Bertuzzi and Phaneuf all had some 11+ minutes on the PP, while Cammalleri had 10. They managed one point between them (and were a cumulative -2 for good measure). If the Caps dont take 8 consecutive penalties, the Flames probably lose this game.
There were, however, a couple of bright spots. Lombardi had his best game so far, scoring the game winner on nifty 3on2. Keenan seemed to notice and elevated Lombo to the first unit for the latter half of the game. Good stuff. And, yeah...Conroy stayed on the third line, where he looked comfortable and capable.
Perhaps the best news of all is that Kipper actually looked like an NHL caliber goaltender for the first time this year. His positioning and rebound control seemed much better and there were no soft, back-breaking goals against for a change. Im not going to get too excited after just a single game, but it's nice to see some indication that our starting goaltender hasn't totally lost it.
On the other hand, it looks like Iginla has yet to bottom out. He's now a team worst -6 and his ES production rate is falling to Nystromian levels. I dont know what his deal is, but there aren't going to be many games in the future where Jarome's lackluster ES play can be shielded by double digit PP time...
He's an elite player. He'll right the ship at some point. Sooner rather than later would be nice, though.
