Game 33 Recap: UGH

Ten Thoughts

-I didn't watch the game, but I did follow along on the radio so keep that in mind.

–Ray Emery is once again a legit “number one” goalie in the NHL. I’m not sure how long that hip will hold up, but with more starts I see his SV% normalizing around .920.

–Rene Bourque should be suspended for that hit. There was a caller on Overtime that theorized that Brent Seabrook hit the linesman’s skate before going down, but to me that really doesn’t matter. Bourque needs to slow up. Expect some more discipline to go along with the 5 and a game Rene got.

–Cory Sarich basically fights and hits and that’s it. Matt Stajan got “fired”. (note: I mean this in that I fully expect the Org to give him every reason to be out for a while with that leg injury.)

-If a guy on that team had to score, I’m glad it was Steve Montador. Still love that dude and probably always will for that goal on Mother’s Day in 04.

-Some people were trying to draw conclusions from Iginla being in the box for Sutter's bench minor. I think it makes sense-his shot is valuable on a breakaway coming out of the box and he won't be killing penalties anyways, right?

-The PP has had a real good performance over the last 4 games played. 2PPG tonight!

-Jokinen’s been the best forward on the team since Febuary of ’10. The Flames haven’t won in the United Centre since March of ’08.

-Iggy's line killed it tonight, finishing +6 in SC, but they were playing softy-ish comp on the 3rd and 4th lines.

-I'm pretty convinced that if pucks keep going in the way they do both for and against the Flames, the team's record isn't going to be anywhere close to what Jonathan Willis suggested they'd need today on twitter. Another 28 wins is going to be a stretch, depending on what happens to the team personnel-wise over the next couple of months.

Reverse Three Stars

1. Cory Sarich-It's a given at this point that if he's on the ice and the Flames lose, he's on the list.
2. Mikael Backlund-Just a horrific second frame.
3. T.J. Brodie-A couple of pretty bad giveaways.

Lastly…

Yeah, the Flames just aren't there and probably wont be this season. The Flames' next game is Tuesday against Minnesota.

by Richard Hammond