Meh.. I liked this game a lot better than the last one in Boston.
I thought that Boston was once again schooling them all over the ice. I didn't think it was even close.
2nd period comes around, and I thought that the Flames matched them well. Stopped getting out-competed. Stopped losing all the races to the puck and all the one-on-one battles. Started making solid plays. I thought it was a closely contested 2nd and 3rd period, and no team really 'deserved' to lose this one.
Boston is the league's top road team, and they were running hot. They got beat in Vancouver and I am sure they came ready to play this afternoon. They have been playing like an elite team for a long while. I would have been angry had the Flames played like they did in Boston all game. From the 2nd period on, they played well.
I am not happy about where they are in the standings. Simply being tied with Anaheim right now is incredibly disappointing to me given what Anaheim has been through this year. They are making a race for the playoffs rather than comfortably sitting in a playoff spot. This is a fairly weak division after all.
Hopefully they start to string together some wins at home. They did play well. Rittich played well. I didn't think anyone had a bad game (including Brodie). They came up against one of the stronger teams in the league who have a lot of veterans that know how to win. Sometimes you lose even if you play well. I will put my pitchfork down for now. They play in Vegas next, then a home-and-home with Colorado, then Phoenix and then NYR. I will pick up my pitchfork again if they have a losing record from the next 5 games. They have a really good opportunity to get themselves in the playoffs here.
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