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Calgary Flames @ Boston Bruins Recap: Schlem-GOAL!

With both teams fighting for playoff spots in their respective conferences, a three-point game would be a win-win. Karri Ramo isn't feeling neglected anymore, with his fifth straight start on the road. The Bruins debuted deadline steal Max Talbot, and the Flames debuted deadline waiver claim David Schlemko. One of them scored tonight.

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Tonight marks the end of the Johnny Gaudreau tour as the Flames visit the Boston Bruins.

Last time, the teams were in Calgary. Boston went up 3-0 early, but the Flames proved yet again that they really are the comeback kids this season and won 4-3 in overtime from the oddest goal by TJ Brodie. That was fun.

Karri Ramo will be in net yet again, hopefully further proving his status as a road warrior. So far this trip, he’s allowed five goals on 131 shots for a 0.962 save percentage.

Tonight the teams will also debut their deadline pick-ups, David Schlemko for Calgary and Maxime Talbot for Boston (Brett Connolly was injured during practice).

First Period:

Slow start to the game, but there were a few noticeable checks by Deryk Engelland. He hasn’t been terrible but he’s definitely no Mark Giordano. Lance Bouma also got bloodied by a high stick in the neutral zone.

Ramo had quite a few good saves in the period. The sprawl on the backhand shot from a wraparound by Loui Eriksson, the funny move to save on a wide open shot by Daniel Paille, the model-like pose to keep his foot jammed against the post when the Bruins were trying to muscle it in, to name a few.

The first goal came from the stick of none other than Brad Marchand, who got a rebound for a nice wraparound and tucked it in right behind Ramo’s foot.

There were also a couple of injuries, one for each team. David Jones went down after blocking a shot and Dennis Seidenberg definitely felt the hit by Joe Colborne. Both went right down the tunnel. Let’s hope they’re alright.

The first penalty came to Flames newbie, David Schlemko, for a high stick on Milan Lucic. The Flames had a decent penalty kill and was able to keep them to just three shots with an awkward high save by Ramo that helped out.

Then the fun really started. Within the last four minutes of the period, the Bruins got three back to back penalties.

The first penalty for the other team was on the Bruins newbie, Max Talbot, for boarding Dennis Wideman. Not much happened, with the Flames getting a just a single shot on net.

A few seconds after Talbot was out, Matt Bartkowski was caught hooking Drew Shore. The Jiri Hudler and sons line had patience when moving the puck around, which paid off, as the puck made its way out to Kris Russell for a shot. The three forwards crashed the net to get the rebound, and it was Sean Monahan who pulled it off. That’s 23 goals for number 23, and he hasn’t even lived that many years.

Sophomore slump? What’s that?

There was only a few seconds left in the period when the Flames went on their third powerplay thanks to Carl Soderberg hooking Monahan, so not much developed.

The period ended tied 1-1, but it was Boston who lead in both shots and Corsi, 11-9 and 31-14, respectively.

Second Period:

With the Flames starting the period on the powerplay, I expected it to be exciting. The Flames registered zero shots on the third powerplay. Silly me.

Injuries note: Seidenberg was back for the second period, Jones was nowhere to be found. Great.

And a goal. Fun. The goal was a good one though, with a tape to tape pass behind the net, and Ryan Spooner getting it right onto Lucic’s stick for a quick snap shot that beat Ramo.

Turns out Jones did make a quick a appearance, taking a shift that lasted for a false draw before he had to come back off. He was done for the night. Good stuff.

There was a fun little sequence that I really wish would have been a goal. Our favourite Brandon Bollig had a good hit, then Shore had a matching one that got the puck up to Raphael Diaz, who had a decent shot on Tuukka Rask. We can dream, right? Then Bollig and Adam McQuaid showed off how macho they are.

You know what makes for a fun, fast period? NOT icing the puck three times in a row. Indicative of the game so far. Maybe the Flames are feeling Gio’s absence?

Hudler scoring makes up for it though. He was looking for that rebound from Wideman’s shot, and he got it. His 21st of the season.

A slow line change caught the Bruins with too many men on the ice for their fourth penalty of the night. It was clear that Boston has got a good penalty kill on this one. It seemed that the puck was in the defensive zone more often than not. Oh well.

Here’s a funny thing that happened. Marchand tried to pick on our little Johnny. Luckily, Gaudreau is just shifty enough that he dodged the hit. Bollig did his job as Johnny’s bodygaurd and had a little ‘talk’ with Marchand after.

Another tie to end the period, 2-2. Boston still lead in shots and Corsi, but it was a bit closer at 12-11 and 27-18.

Third Period:

The penalties were not going to stop. The period began and the Flames lost the ability to count, with five guys in the neutral zone and Russell with the puck in the defensive, that’s too many men.

Josh Jooris almost had a shorthanded breakaway, but Spooner stuck his hip out and got called for interference.

On the 4-on-4, the Bruins did get a 3-on-1 chance. And for whatever reason, Mason Raymond and Russell thought it would be a good time to give each other a hug.

After a bit of even strength time, Johnny tried his hardest to get to the net, but was tripped up by Bartkowski. His speed just draws so many penalties.

It was a great powerplay. I don’t think the puck came out of the Boston zone once as the Flames were able to cycle the puck like pros. Johnny was able to complete the papa and sons scoring line with a goal of his own from out wide.

Another penalty? Why not. Brodie cleared the puck a little too high.

The Flames weren’t able to clear the puck for a while, but they blocked a lot of shots (the M&G team is probably dying from that sentence). The Flames found themselves in the offensive zone, and Reilly Smith was caught behind the net holding Jooris.

With only 20 seconds of 4-on-4 time, not too much happened. The same can be said for the Flames powerplay. Russell made a good play by keeping Marchand from getting a shot off.

Drew Shore had a learning moment as he put himself in poor position, which allowed Eriksson to get behind him, pull the puck off of Ramo’s pads, and bury it to tie it up.

The scariest/best thing to happen was a result of Ramo misplaying the puck and turning it over to Boston. He was too far out of his net for comfort, and yet, he was there when Eriksson shot it. THAT was a desperation save. He just hustled to his net and slid into the crease hoping to get his body in the way. Man.

Ramo continued his solid play (okay that last save wasn’t so solid, but nobody’s perfect), with a save on Talbot, who got his own rebound and wouldn’t leave Ramo alone.

Hudler almost scored a Brodie-like goal near the end, with the puck just going over the crossbar instead of back and in off Rask’s shoulder.

That was a much funner period to watch, but the score was still tied at the end, 3-3. Shots were also even at 11 for the period, but Boston out-Corsied yet again, 26-18.

Overtime:

This is the best outcome for both teams – they each get a point in their respective playoff races.

This Eriksson guy just won’t leave Ramo alone. Good thing Ramo is the king on the road.

My cable box decided to reboot itself in the middle of overtime so I missed the middle chunk, but from what I can tell, nothing happened besides Hudler almost ending the game.

Dougie Hamilton gave Russell and little shove, he swiped Ramo and then ran into the net, knocking it off. And no one noticed. For a while.

No goals. Boston out-shot and out-Corsied the Flames, 3-1 and 5-2, respectively.

SHOOTOUT

It’s been a long time since the Flames went to a shootout. How fun!

BOSTON FLAMES
Round Shooter Score? Shooter Score?
1 Ryan Spooner X Joe Colborne X
2 Torey Krug X Johnny Gaudreau X
3 David Pastrnak X Jiri Hudler X
4 Brad Marchand X Sean Monahan X
5 Loui Eriksson X Mason Raymond X
6 Reilly Smith X Drew Shore X
7 Patrice Bergeron Y Josh Jooris Y
8 Milan Lucic X David Schlemko Y

Yes, the newbie turned out to be the hero of the game. His shot was sick too.

Also, thanks to JoJoo for keeping the Flames in it. That was fun.

Thoughts:

  • The Flames finally had three defensive pairings with one left and one right handed player on them.
  • Bouma playing with an absorbent roll up his nose was a fun sight.
  • Hudler and Wideman wore their ‘A’s well. I was trying to watch for a fourth A but found none. I wonder if (new dad!) Matt Stajan might get it?
  • I hope you played the Kris Russell drinking game tonight. Take a shot for every one he blocks.
  • Lots of Johnny Hockey supporters in the crowd tonight, so it was good that he scored. Would have been super great if it was in the SO too.
  • Brodie is everything.
  • If you joined the M&G gamethread you’d have seen my comment on the penalties. If not:

Flame of the Game:

Both of the goalies had a great game. Since this is the Flames site, and the Flames won, I’m giving the Flame of the Game to Road Warrior Karri Ramo. The saves may not have been pretty at times, but they were there. The blue line is definitely feeling the loss of Giordano, putting that much more on our man between the pipes.

I’ve got to give an honorable mention to the new kid on the block, David Schlemko. He wasn’t completely noticeable during the game, but he made a difference when it mattered. According to post game interviews, Hartley was running short on the bench by the eighth round of the shootout and asked Schlemko if he was any good. Schlemko told him he was one for one. Hartley saw those as good averages and it paid off.

Next Game:

The Flames finish a back to back against the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow at 5:30pm MST.

Scoreboard Watching:

by saltysyd