Flames strand Islanders to win seventh straight
‘We’ve got swagger. This a team that is believing in each other,’ says Monahan
Sunday’s afternoon NHL game at the Scotiabank Saddledome was dubbed Club Flames Day, a family-friendly event focused on the youngsters in the crowd.
But what the Calgary Flames did to the New York Islanders in a 5-2 victory simply wasn’t appropriate for the eyes of children.
Think John Wick: Chapter 2, not The Lego Batman Movie.
The beating Calgary placed on the visitors, who, by the way, are barely holding onto the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 30-23-11 record, was mostly one-sided and seemed unfair at times. However, there was no gratuitous violence except for the damage on the final scoresheet.
The victory extended the Flames’ win streak to seven games, equalling last winter’s spree that went from Dec. 1 to Dec. 17.
“They’re confident,” said Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan. “They’re playing a certain way that’s going to get them wins. They believe in it. When you get a group of 23 guys that believe in something, they’re harder (for other teams) to deal with.” Calgary’s fifth goal said it all. Josh Ho-Sang and Travis Hamonic collided in Calgary’s end and caused a turnover, allowing Matt Bartkowski to move the play ahead.
Kris Versteeg and Sam Bennett took it from there, as Versteeg netted his 12th of the season.
Jason Chimera cut into Calgary’s lead at the 11:32 mark of the third period, while the Flames ran into penalty trouble in the final minutes of the game, killing off a fiveon-three as Mark Giordano and Matt Bartkowski sat off in the sin bin.
No matter. The Flames were backed by a four-goal lead they established in the first period.
“The best part of our game was how we came out to start the game,” Giordano said. “We put a lot of pucks in the net, obviously. They’re tough games to play in when you know the other team’s going to push. Overall, a pretty solid game.”
The Flames are still stuck in the first wild-card spot, improving to 36-26-4 with Sunday’s victory, but where they’re situated makes no difference inside the dressing room.
“Your goal is to play in the playoffs,” said Flames forward Sean Monahan. “If you’re the last wildcard spot or first in the West, it doesn’t matter when you get there. That’s when the real hockey starts.
“We’re trying to get as many points as we can to be in the spot where we want to be in at the end of the year.”
Their drive was evident from the puck drop.
The Flames chased Thomas Greiss from the Islanders net with four goals and 21 shots in 20 minutes.
Michael Frolik put the Flames on the board at 5:04 with a wrister from the corner. It won’t appear on the scoresheet, but Matthew Tkachuk played a big role in the marker, providing his usual hard nosed (read: annoying) net-front presence. Shortly after, savvy veteran Matt Stajan set up the team’s second goal perfectly in New York’s zone with a pass to Alex Chiasson, who spotted a rushing T.J. Brodie coming around the net and threw the puck in front.
Calgary native Thomas Hickey picked up an assist on the Flames’ marker, which went off his body, behind Greiss and in. The excitement continued. The first line added a pair of markers before the period was over when Micheal Ferland scored his 13th of the season on a hard wrister and Monahan gave the Flames a four-goal cushion by finishing a perfect tic tac toe setup by Johnny Gaudreau.
“You don’t get those (4-0 cushions) very often,” Gulutzan said. “It just makes the day a little easier but you have to keep pushing and coaching and making sure you’re doing the right things.
“But it certainly makes it a little easier.”
Shots were 21-8 for the Flames after the first period, a frenetic pace that dropped off in the second period.
Unlike Friday’s 3-2 overtime victory against the Detroit Red Wings, which saw the visitors out-shoot the Flames 14-2, Calgary’s middle frame on Sunday was better.
The Islanders put pressure on the Flames and were rewarded. During a four-on-four situation with Ho-Sang off for holding and Gaudreau off for embellishment, John Tavares made no mistake and rifled a rebound past Brian Elliott.
Elliott, in the end, made 33 saves as Calgary chases its first eightgame win streak since Nov. 1 to Nov. 16 of 2005.
The Flames, 12-1-1 in their last 15 games, will have to wait until Thursday when the Montreal Canadiens come calling.
“We’ve got swagger,” said Monahan. “Before we’d sit back and wait for the other team to do something before we stepped up. Now we’re trying to take charge and getting goals and everyone is buying in.
“This a team that is believing in each other.”
When you get a group of 23 guys that believe in something, they’re harder (for other teams) to deal with.