I think it's finally safe to say the Monster is stirring. After almost single-handedly beating the Canadiens last night, Jarome has 6 goals in 7 games, including 2 game winners in a row. Not only was Iginla a presence on the scoresheet with 2 goals, 1 assist and 7 shots, he was a dominating entity in the offensive zone all night. For evidence see: the last 2 minutes of the 3rd. Iginla's line including Lombardi and Rhino caged the Habs in their own end, disllowing them to enter Calgary's zone and pull Theodore. In fact, Iginla walked out from the corner and very nearly scored another one to ice the victory. Kudos to Iggy for his performance! I'd say last night's was easily one of his best so far this season.
Beyond gushing about Iginla, I have to give credit to the Flames as a whole for their cohesive team play yesterday. They outshot Montreal 30-18 and dominated the action most of the time. In fact, Montreal went for a span of roughly 20 minutes without registering a shot! It was, I'd suggest, a nearly textbook example of an ideal "Flames game" - tight defense, hard working and relentless forechecking, big saves and opportunistic scoring. The lone blemish would have to be the give-away that lead to Kovalev's late 3rd period goal (beyond the fact that Kipper stops that shot 9 out of 10 games)...
Positives and Negatives:
Po's:
- Jarome. Stepping it up in the second half again. The lack of Souray and Markov really hurt Montreal thanks to Iginla's performance.
- Dion Phaneuf. Remarkably good. Great assist on Langkow's goal and physically punishing. Seems to get better every day.
- Chuck Kobasew. Worked well with Simon/Donovan and created some great scoring chances. Was robbed of a goal thanks to the post.
- Shean Donovan. Skated and forechecked extremely well. His rush on the PK often generated chances while killing off time.
- Kipper. Makes the big saves on Bulis (diving glove) and Bonk (toe kick) when it matters most. 24 wins leads the league.
- Powerplay. Took advantage of opportunities when it needed to. 2-5 on the night.
- Overall Defense. Stifling and well-positioned, Calgary allowed only 18 shots against. The 3-2 score flatters the Canadiens.
- Huselius with another point. 20 in 19 games with the Flames I believe.
- McCarty battles it out with Souray and misses nary a shift despite getting cut deep during the altercation. Also, the fight removed Souray from the contest.
Neg's:
- The officiating in the first period. It actually benefitted Calgary in the end...but wow was it bad. First 3 penalties were bogus, especially the so-called "tripping" call against Dion. It thankfully seemed to get better as the game went on though.
- Calgary only wins by 1. It's an extremely small complaint, but the score shouldn't have been close. It would be nice if the Flames could have removed all doubt before the final buzzer.
- Chuck Kobasew. Yeah, he's gets a + and -. Had 2 glorious opportunities to score and comes away empty-handed. Should be putting those away.
- Both Vancouver and Edmonton win. Boooooo.
On a related, and oddly familiar note, The Chicago Blackhawks halted Colorado's win streak at 8 games by defeating them 4-2 last night. Consider that it was the 'Hawks that ended Calgary's bid for 9 straight in November with a similar 5-2 victory. Weird.
Next up - Surging Sabres on Saturday.
