FLAMES WIN A BATTLE
Johnny Gaudreau celebrates his second-period goal that stood up as the game winner, as the flames snapped a seven-game losing skid to the rival edmonton oilers and boosted their push for the playoffs with a 1-0 win at the dome on tuesday night.
Mike Smith picked a fine time to come up with his biggest save of the year. His timing was even better 20 minutes later when he came up with an even better one.
Two days after punctuating Sunday’s loss to the New York Islanders by suggesting every player in the Calgary Flames’ lineup needed to do more of the little things to keep their playoff hopes alive, Smith put his money where his mouth is.
After days of wondering if the Flames could snap their funk at home or against the Edmonton Oilers, the only debate now revolves around which save was bigger in a gritty, crucial 1-0 win.
Was it the glove save on Ryan Strome as the Oilers forward was alone in the slot late in the second, or was it the split-save pad stop on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who appeared to have an easy tap-in from Connor McDavid on a two-on-one in the final frame?
“Geez, I don’t know — the one that sticks out for me was the two-on-one,” head coach Glen Gulutzan said, flashing a grin not seen around these parts in awhile.
“I don’t know, the last one maybe?” said Travis Hamonic, still bleeding from a Mike Cammalleri elbow that led to a spirited fight with Darnell Nurse.
“That’s a 10-bell save. You don’t want to put him in a spot to do that … but it’s nice that he can. He’s one of our biggest leaders. Just because he plays a different position than all of us doesn’t mean he can’t lead in his own sense. He was kicking tonight.”
None of this is to suggest the save he made on McDavid in alone early in the third wasn’t a crucial stop, either.
For a team that had won once in regulation in their last 11 home games, it goes without saying the Flames needed a break or two to keep themselves in the thick of a playoff hunt.
More than anything, they needed a hero — and Smith played that role brilliantly, making 28 saves with a sore groin just one game after returning from a month-long injury.
“He’s been our best player all year for a reason,” said Mark Giordano, who was also a horse out there.
“And that’s a big game. They get two 10-bellers in the third and the game could easily go the other way, but he doesn’t let it.”
Smith, the uber-competitive 35-year-old, simply willed his team to the victory, reminding the Flames how much easier it was to win when the best player on the ice was their backstop.
“It’s cliché, but you’re just trying to make the big save at the right time,” Smith said.
“We’ve got to look after what we can control, and that’s us. I might have said it to the media, but there were a lot of guys in here who made their voices known.”
Sam Bennett made two big shot blocks while playing admirably on the second line in Matthew Tkachuk’s stead. Matt Stajan ended the game with another big shot block.
Everyone swarmed McDavid all night, and the focus on a solid start and team defence was clear.
“We were talking in the third about greasing one out and proving we can play that kind of game,” Hamonic said.
“That was a big win for our group mentally. All that talk we couldn’t win at home and couldn’t beat the Oilers, and we did both here tonight. Hopefully we can carry it over to another huge game.”
The Flames are off until a key divisional test against the visiting San Jose Sharks on Friday.
Outside of goals, the game had everything, giving the crowd plenty to chant about as the Flames desperately clung to the one-goal cushion given to them by Johnny Gaudreau late in the first.
McDavid was dangerous all night. The game was full of big hits, timely shot blocks and the type of defensive effort people probably expected to see more of when Hamonic was acquired in a trade to round out their vaunted top four.
“You have to learn to win games when you have 15 shots, and games when you have 45,” Smith said.
“(The Oilers) have a lot of skill. They’re probably not where they deserve to be in the standings, but they still can burn you.”
Smith simply wouldn’t stand for anything less than a win on this night.
“It starts with your play on the ice,” Smith said when asked about his post-game comments Sunday.
“It’s hard to talk in the room to you (press) guys when you don’t go out there and do your job. Now, it gets that much more important.”
All that talk we couldn’t win at home and couldn’t beat the Oilers, and we did both here tonight.