I'm watching the game a 2nd time and noticing some things I didn't last night.
We were dominating the Coyotes in the 2nd right before we ran into penalty trouble. We even carried the momentum over into the 5-on-3 kill, where the Coyotes looked uninspired and the Flames were winning most battles. I thought the first call on Stajan was ultimately the wrong call but impossible to see so at game speed. Stajan fell over and there was no way he doesn't hit Ekman-Larsson on the way down. Unintentional, probably the right call.
Then the Stajan takes a dumb and weird penalty. That's the first kick in the pants after a big kill like that. Then, off the draw, Comeau gets massively interfered with (no call) and then the bit of bad luck off Bouw and it's tied. You would expect a momentum shift after that, but the Flames come back and establish a great forecheck on the next shift and draw a penalty. That's good, resilient hockey.
Bouw has a great shift to start the PP and we keep good pressure for most of it, but nothing to show for it. The ice evens out a bit after that until Cammy's faceoff violation. Stupid penalty, I guess, but I'm trying to figure out why they added this rule. It doesn't make the game any better to watch -- quite the opposite. Ugh. Then a sloppy change and they pot one. Typical Coyotes game: they don't do squat for 15 minutes and get two goals out of it.
Still, Flames with good pushback. The Cammy-Glencross-Stempniak line has yet another great shift. Terrific all night. The 3rd line gets another good cycle going marred by Comeau's slow/poor decision-making with the puck. He does everything well except make decisions quickly and smartly with the puck. No confidence? No vision?
Refs miss another massive interference on Tanguay, though it was right after we get a goal off a Tanguay pick, so we'll call that even. Not what officials are supposed to do though. If you see it and it's a call, call it. Jeez. Have to respect Hartley's position post-game in saying how good the refs are all the time. Hopefully that buys us a close call later in the season. Cammy's line has another great shift, fed by one of my favorite plays this season by Stempniak behind the net to keep the play alive. Pure determination. Love it.
Flames manage to fight off some bad luck, carry the period, and head into the final frame up a goal. Grit? Or just determination? Whatever it's called, you have to love the push in that period.
Bouw with a good 4-on-4 shift. I like his ability to take over the ice this year instead of being a passive player just trying not to make mistakes. Man do the Coyotes run a lot of interference and clutch and grab a lot. Putrid. Beautiful passing play by the Coyotes, the first time they really asserted anything at all, and typically this year it ends up in the net.
It's hard to imagine how much better this team would be with Backlund in the lineup. With Cervenka injured / out of shape / not playing well / in the doghouse, the quality really drops off on the 3rd line with Comeau centering Beartschi and Hudler. That is just a way better line with a 2-way, smart NHL centerman in Backlund. Get well soon!
And this is not Comeau's fault. There's no way anyone should expect him to play a skilled center's game when he's neither skilled nor a center. Hudler appears to be struggling a bit right now as well. He's played his best hockey this year with Stajan, so it's possible this is as a result of not having a good center too.
For the first time the Flames are guilty of gripping their sticks and watching the play as Phoenix smells blood and turns up the heat. Only Cammy's line has any success at setting up a forecheck. We're outshot 8-0 and 12-2 at various points in the 3rd. A bit of sloppy passive play and a bad rebound leads to the 4-3 goal. Phoenix at their rattlensake, rope-a-dope best right now. Brodie and Wideman struggling a bit in our own zone in this one. Ekman-Larsson is a player, on both sides of the puck. Holy. Future no.1 D-man for sure.
Every time Cammy's line is on the ice they turn the tide and get chances. What a game from them. They could have had 3 or 4 more. Iggy and Cammy dodge bullets though in the last 5 on what I thought were obvious tripping calls.
Moss has the worst shift of all time leading to Iggy's goal. How do you let Iginla alone with a 1 goal lead and 90 seconds to play? Atrocious. If a Flames' player was guilty of that there would be a CP-style lynch mob to end all lynch mobs.
Finally, in just fashion, the Cammy-Glencross-Stempniak line creates a chance and they bury it. What an amazing game for them.
What a character win. Maybe Phoenix isn't all that great of a team but these slow-moving, frustrate-you, patient teams have always caused the Flames problems. Bad bounces this year have led to extended periods of sullen, "oh-crap" kind of play and Phoenix-like teams seem to get more than their fair share of bounces against us. So great to beat them especially with how much determination it took to do so. Despite letting in 4 goals, I think the team defence was, overall, improved, and MacDonald was just fine.
Some real positives to take here.
Edit: that got long. Sorry. I'm bored.
Flames 5 Coyotes 4
