Flames/Preds Post Game: Sometimes, the bear eats you…

Well, there are games that just don’t work out, and this afternoon Calgary was on the wrong end of one where they might have deserved better. The Flames were pretty decent after the 12 minute mark of the first, really. If you check the scoring chances, Nashville got 6 of the first 7, and Calgary was solid from there, but this afternoon was a rare occasion where Miikka Kiprusoff didn’t quite play up to his standard. After what I wrote about his play in the pre-game, I can only conclude that I jinxed him;-)

Because of the way that Barry Trotz organizes his forwards, this was an opportunity for Jarome Iginla to work against third line types like Ward and Smithson, and he took advantage of the rare chance, scoring two goals and having the lion’s share of possession when he was out there. In contrast, the Langkow line didn’t have it’s usual snap, running at a collective -8 at EV. Ouch. Jay Bouwmeester and Mark Giordano went down the hole with them as well, even though they had a day in the black in terms of Corsi.

As I said, there just those days where it doesn't come together, and Kipper had one of those days. He whiffed on the Erat goal, and the others were mostly the residue of a few bounces going the wrong way, but most games this year, he makes an extra stop or two. Since the Flames would be in the ditch without his play this year, there's no point in getting too broken up about it until it becomes a habit.

I’m never happy watching a loss, but the Preds are living through one of those runs where everything is going in at the moment, with the Cody Franson game winner serving as Exhibit A. The fact that Calgary couldn’t halt that roll is unfortunate, but I’m a lot happier with the overall level of play, even if the outcome isn’t ideal. They’ve played worse and won more than a few times this season, so l’ll just chalk this one up to “shit happens”, and move on.

by Robert Cleave