Game 2 Review

Event Summary

Corsi

Last night hammered home the lost opportunity that was game 1 – sometimes, despite playing pretty well, you lose on the road. That's just the way it goes in the NHL: there are advantages to playing in a friendly rink and they can swing the game in favor of the home team.

Now, instead of a road split, the Flames are heading back to the Dome down by 2. I probably don't have to mention this, but the Flames are 0-6 versus the Hawks this season and now face the Herculean task of winning 4 of the next 6 to advance. Sans Regehr (and likely Sarich), that seems 3 steps past unlikely.

Like Game 1, the club played pretty well for large portions of the contest, but were ultimately overwhelmed in the end. The corsi figures are slightly more complimentary this time, although the fact that Glencross and Moss – the Flames two best forwards by this mearsure all season – were well under water is disturbing. Whatever the cause, be it match-ups or being split up, they were pretty well neutralized. Also, the nominally better corsi rate probably has to do with the club chasing in the 3rd period rather than defending. Even with that in mind, the Flames were in the red. 

I would like to point to a goat or glaring mistake that was the primary cause of the loss, but I can't. Calgary didn't play a flawless game, naturally, but they certainly weren't terrible either. I was left with impression that their actions were simply futile in the face of the Hawks counter punches. There's a line from that Cheeseball Wesley Snipes film 'Blade' that applies here I think: "some mothfu**ers are always trying to ice skate up hill". 

It's not time to throw in the towel yet – Calgary has a couple of home games at least. But I would advise warming up your towel throwing arm at the very least. Flames need to catch a really good river card to win the pot here. Not impossible, of course,  but not terribly probable either.

by Kent Wilson