Connect with us

Calgary Flames

AYFKM!?!? Flames Score Twice in Third, Defeat Colorado in Overtime

Wideman scores twice, Kris Russell dishes out three assists, and Sean Monahan pots the game winner in overtime on a spectacular night in Calgary.

Published

on

The Flames first good chance of the game came two and a half minutes into the contest, when Johnny Gaudreau uncorked a slapshot from the right point which made it through and clanked off the post. At the four minute mark, Danny Briere parked behind Karri Ramo’s crease and threw a centering pass out front, but there weren’t any Avalanche to capitalize.

At the 5:07 mark, Nick Holden was called for interference, giving the Flames an early power play. After a quick clear, Mark Giordano got a good look but the puck was blocked on the way to the net. Gaudreau centered a pass right in front of Semyon Varlamov which also did not find anyone home. I guess one good turn deserves another. The penalty came to an end with the same score that it started with.

The teams really didn’t give me very much to write about through most of the period, as the two combined for six shots (three each) through the first 12 minutes. Michael Ferland almost opened the scoring two minutes later right in front of Varlamov, but he ultimately didn’t get a very good shot on the net. Soon after, Varlamov went behind the net to handle the puck, but was unexpectedly challenged by Sven Baertschi. The Flames controlled the puck, but were unable to get it set before the goalie was back between the pipes.

Gabriel Landeskog clearly tripped Josh Jooris right behind the Avs’ goal, but did not get whistled for the foul with four minutes left in the frame. Michael Ferland streaked into the Avs’ zone for a loose rebound off Colorado’s goaltender, whistling a quick shot a minute later for no dice.

____________

Just over two minutes into the in second period, the Flames jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal scored on a Gaudreau saucer pass by Wideman, who earned his ninth marker of the campaign.

At the 13:23 mark, Matt Duchene also earned his ninth marker of the season on a picture perfect pass from Ryan O’Reilly. Duchene poked the puck just under the crossbar to make it a new ballgame. The tie didn’t last long, as Colorado took a 2-1 lead just 58 seconds later when Zach Redmond earned his fourth of the year off a crossing pass from Michael Sgarbossa, who earned the assist for his first career point in his eighth career game (his second this season).

Calgary was winning the faceoff battle after the second period, 33-to-28.

____________

Calgary opened the third period as they do so often, scoring a goal. Just 1:14 into it, David Jones found a wide open Gurtis Glencross right in front of a partially open cage for his fifth of the season. Sean Monahan also earned an assist on the play. The equalizer was Calgary’s 38th third-period goal in their 27th game, against only 14 goals allowed.The thing is, it’s not even close. Montreal is second with 33, and the NHL average is 22.5 (per Altitude Sports).

Markus Granlund had a nice little spin move with the puck in open ice to evade two rapidly closing Av’s who were looking at the biscuit like starving lumberjacks. The play didn’t amount to anything, but it was really nifty, and worth mentioning.

Glencross hit a wide open Giordano all the way across the ice at the 12 minute mark after breaking into the zone, but Curtis put the puck into a quickly recovering Varlamov for the netminder's 17th save of the night.

Ex-Flame Alex Tanguay had a moment there with six-minutes left in the game, bouncing the puck off his skate in the neutral zone, deking Kris Russell out of his skates, and drawing Ramo all the way out of his net before beating the goalie for his ninth goal of the season. Ryan O’Reilly and Tyson Barrie earned assists, but they shouldn’t have. This one was highlight reel material, and I’m sad when I see a “Play of the Week” and my team is getting burnt. Yeah, it was pretty good (bad).

The Flames pulled the goalie for a little six-on-five action with 1:30 left in the game, and Wideman answered the bell for his second goal of the game and his 10th of the year. It was Wideman's second two-goal game of the season.

With under a minute to play, Jarome Iginla had several shots on Ramo at short range, all turned away. The crowd was chanting in unison as Ramo made each save. He made one more with one second remaining in the third period to guarantee the Flames at least one point.

________________

Paul Byron had a chance to win it immediately after overtime started, breaking away with the puck and apparently completely fooling Varlamov and bouncing off the post. On further review, Varlamov somehow had gotten a toe on the puck. After the teams traded off rushes, Calgary had another chance to win it. Varlamov accidentally pushed the puck right onto Monahan's stick. It was just a matter of tucking it home for Sean, and the team skated off the ice to the dulcet tones of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire. Go Flames go.

It's unreal being a Flames fan right now. The team is just irresistible. I can't imagine anyone outside of Edmonton or California who wouldn't like these guys. Well, Vancouver and obviously after the last three weeks Arizona. But other than that I think Calgary has everyone's attention now. 17-8-2 is something to be proud of. For once, Corsi and Fenwick came out looking pretty even, but that's a post for tomorrow.

by Kevin Kraczkowski