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Originally Posted by Mony
Now that I've had some time to stew over this game, here are my thoughts. First of all, I'm glad we've been able to get back-to-back wins over the Canucks, this time we didn't need our goalie to win it. Perhaps this is the beginning of an era where the Canucks won't have our number anymore. 2 wins out of the last 11 against this team is bad, but I think the tide is turning in a way. We finally got the Canucks to run around frantically. They're on the decline, we're heading up, so it looks good.
Credit to Ramo for a solid third period with a lot of big saves after those first 2 crappy goals. He bounced back so good for him. In the third, we agitated the Canucks much like the Ortio shut-out game - didn't let them enter the zone and hindered their approach in the middle of the ice, aggressive forecheck, always getting the puck off their stick before they could even set up, so the Canucks got sloppy together with our strong play. Monahan was great. We didn't need a bunch of goals in the third this time - played a very controlled game. If not for those 2 bad goals and Miller, this is a blowout. Feels good to beat those stupid rioters and their fans and see them get all quiet near the end.
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I don't think there's any question it's turning.
The Flames' problems with the Nucks developed a few years ago when they started standing around and giving the Nucks too much respect and too much ice. They stopped hitting because the Sedins were killing them on the PP. They played D and let the Nucks come at them.
Despite better efforts last year and earlier this year, there was still too much respect, too much reacting, and not enough skating and initiation.
Slowly but steadily this year, with each game, the Flames have been playing their own game more. The prior couple were better in that they were skating at times. But last night they were skating and playing their game all night. For the first time in I cannot remember how long, one can say - correctly - that the Flames were definitely the better team. That game could easily have been more like 5-1 Flames.
And with success comes confidence. You can see that they don't fear the Nucks anymore. They know they can beat them now. I don't see any reason why that won't continue.
Oh, one final thing... another reason tat they have turned the corner is Mikael Backlund. His head to head play against the Sedins is so impressive. He seems to relish playing them and he was a beauty again last night.