16,690 fans saw what was by far the worst hockey game I've seen in Calgary in years. And 100% of the blame for that lies with the Dome facilities crew. The ice tonight was the worst I have ever seen it. Not a shred of exaggeration. The state of the playing surface would have been embarrassing a junior B rink in Arizona, never mind an NHL facility. Both teams looked like crap as a result. The puck was constantly rolling, bouncing over sticks of both teams, neither team could pass well, neither could shoot well. Just utterly destroyed what could have been a good game.
Since neither team could get going, I really can't say that either team deserved to win, or either team deserved to lose. Kelowna won because someone had to, and their goalie did play a great game, although I don't think he was really tested anywhere near as much as the shot clock would suggest.
Good thing Backlund took those two penalties, otherwise he would have been completely invisible.
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