Flames end their dads' trip and an extremely busy stretch with a winning hand in Sin City
Second verse, same as the first.
In beating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 Saturday night, the Calgary Flames used the exact same playbook in both halves of their perfect two-game road trip.
Just as they did to defeat the the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 on Thursday, the Flames staked an early lead with a great first period — rewarded with goals by Blake Coleman and Nazem Kadri, stayed ahead in the second period because of stellar goaltending from Jacob Markstrom and held off to the final buzzer, with Mikael Backlund adding another tally in a two-point game.
The only shame was Chandler Stephenson ruining Markstrom’s shutout bid in the middle of the third period, but the frustration washed away with Calgary claiming only its second ever victory in Las Vegas.
“It was a huge win by us,” Backlund told reporters in Las Vegas. “We had a really good start again. … Wasn’t maybe our best second and third period, but we found a way — we grinded — and Marky was played so well for us tonight. Really big win for us.”
The Flames have inched closer to a wild-card playoff position, and require much more of the same, starting with their six-game homestand that begins Tuesday against the Coyotes.
Now, more takeaways following the win that gives Calgary a three-game winning streak.
A high-water mark
Thanks to a perfect week’s worth of action, the Flames (20-18-5) are two games over .500 for the first time this season.
It will not be enough to remain there for them to have legitimate playoff hopes, but the feelings about this club this week changed from the the team that last Sunday lost in Chicago and so much reaction was to burn it to the ground.
“We can't go .500 anymore,” Markstrom said. “To make up ground and catch teams, we’ve got to string a few together. This was a good trip and we’ve got to go home and charge the batteries tomorrow and then get back to work.”
Credit where it is due
As easily as detractors may want to poo-poo this club, they deserve praise for finishing a very difficult stretch on such a high.
Starting with their New Year’s Eve victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Saddledome, the Flames played eight games over 14 days in seven different cities and all four of the league’s time zones. According to Sportsnet Stats, they have travelled 9,600 kilometres in 11 days.
Oh yeah, their record in that span: 6-2-0. The disappointing performance in their loss to Chicago aside, that is an impressive run.
Giving their all
Two plays that stand out during the Vegas win: 1. Rasmus Andersson’s reaction when the Golden Knights scored their lone goal. In absolute anger because he twice failed to clear the puck out of the zone, Andersson smashed his stick over the crossbar; 2. The all-out efforts to the final seconds to prevent the Golden Knights from scoring. With the final buzzer looming, Chris Tanev especially, saved a goal to preserve the victory.
Those plays show how much this team cares.
Give it up for dads
It will be on the Flames to maintain their momentum and emotion going forward. Rest assured, having their fathers/brothers along during these two games gave the Flames that little extra juice.
“Dads are red-hot, man. They may not be going home. They might be sticking with us,” Coleman said.
Continuing trends
In all three games this week, Markstrom, Backlund, Coleman and Kadri led the way.
It has been an ongoing story for those four during an extended period, but as the level of play has elevated after the holiday break, they have indeed shown the way.