Game 7 Recap: Not Exactly Fair

Ten Thoughts

–Olli Jokinen, man. He had a 10-bell chance with Pekka Rinne 5 feet out of the crease on the other side of the net, leaving it wide open…and he hits the fucking post. I would like to say I couldn’t believe it, but I’d be lying.

-Definitely the best game I’ve seen from Scott Hannan as a Flame. Probably the only move I’ve unilaterally agreed with Jay Feaster on. Likewise, a nice, solid “bounceback” game from Mark Giordano. He and Hannan combined to be +26 in Corsi on the afternoon. Both of them were positive on the ES scoring chances, too.

-Brent Sutter was thoroughly out-coached today. Even with last change, it seemed as though he struggled to get the line matchups he wanted.

-The Flames did an excellent job of getting pucks to the net in the game while also doing an excellent job of keeping pucks away from their net. The +20 in Corsi, +19 in shot differential and +4 at in scoring chances at EV are all indicators of that. I hesitate to say it was score effects as the pressure was consistent throughout the game.

-A really strong game from Miikka Kiprusoff. Can’t fault him on either of the goals (one being a crazy puck that bounced off of bodies and sticks the second coming off of a 2-on-1), so that combined with Nashville’s ineptitude makes that sub-900 SV% irrelevant in my eyes.

–Tim Jackman’s goal was totally in and I think it’s absurd that there’s a grey area between “penalty” and “goal” when it comes to goaltender interference. Either it’s a penalty or it’s a goal. Leaving that open to interpretation is absolutely moronic.

-A lot better on the special teams side of things today. The PP was actually able to gain the zone on a consistent basis and the PK kept the shots to the periphery.

-Jarome. Dude. You need to start creating more chances. I know Legwand's their top shutdown guy and you played a lot of minutes against him, but 85k should be worth more then 2 EV scoring chances. I still love you though.

-Not totally sure how Alex Tanguay was -2 in Corsi when the team was +20, but whatever. Tangs didn’t have his best game out there today.

-There were a couple times where Jay Bouwmeester jumped up in the offensive zone and was wide open at the back door-but for whatever reason he never got the puck. Disappointing.

Reverse Three Stars

1. Cory Sarich-Stupid penalties, stupid positioning, stupid puck handling. Really the only outright bad performance by a Flame on the day.
2. Chris Butler-Actually had a pretty good game, but the 2-on-1 immediately after and 2nd goal against were the result of his horrible pinch.
3. Alex Tanguay-Fought the puck today and looked a little sluggish.

Finally…

The Flames did pretty much everything they needed to do to win except actually put the puck past the goalie-but it easily could've been a game that was 2-2. For the most part, if they play like that every game they'll be successful. The Flames' next game is Wednesday against Colorado.

by Richard Hammond