Flames insist their ‘duck’ is far from being cooked
CALGARY — After the Flames landed back on Canadian soil Monday, coach Bob Hartley, gave his form to the customs officer, and said: “I have nothing to declare.”
Including, apparently, glowing reviews about the Anaheim Ducks.
Sure, the Californians had bagged Games 1 and 2, outscoring their humbled guests by a count of 9-1. But Hartley was in no mood to pump their tires.
“We’re not here to say how good they are,” said Hartley. “We’re here to beat them. They beat us in the first two games — good for them. Now they’re in our rink.
“And we’re going to be ready for business.”
Come Game 3 Tuesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the Flames can’t afford a sluggish start.
“Right now, we have to forget that we’re 0-2. We have to forget that we’re part of a seven-game series. Let’s focus on (Tuesday) night’s game — that was my message to the boys.”
A simple change of locale is not nearly enough, though.
“We’re very confident in our game when we come into the Saddledome,” said Kris Russell, “but we have to make sure we come out prepared to play the right way, earn some goals, go after them from the start. We have to make sure we outcompete them and out-execute them.”
The Flames, in 120 minutes at the Honda Center, scored only once.
“We need to raise the level, especially offensively,” said Russell. “We’ve got to get another gear.”
Not that there haven’t been loose pucks skittering in front of Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen. The Flames just haven’t been able to convert.
“We have to fight for our space,” said Hartley. “It’s playoff hockey. There’s a little bit more interference, a little bit more battles allowed, that’s the way it goes. It’s part of our adjustment — our young group has to learn … and we’re going to be ready for Game 3.”
Hartley, though, isn’t going back to the drawing board — despite a few curious forward combinations Sunday. His personnel is plenty solid. “I don’t think there’s any problem,” said the coach. “There’s no doubts on our side. Obviously, we know we’ll have to get some offence in order to (win) games. But … it’s not like we gave the Ducks a lot. I’m not expecting a 7-6 game by any means. We will have to fight for each inch of ice. Our execution will have to be at the best possible level.”
The travellers, in Thursday’s 6-1 opener, were trounced.
“We just admired them,” said Hartley. “They’re obviously real good … I think our young squad got surprised, and, obviously, we didn’t play a very good game.”
Ditto Game 2. Well, for the first period anyway.
Despite the absence of success, no one is pouting, according to Hartley.
“Everyone’s upbeat,” said the coach. “Everyone’s excited to be back. Personally, I’ve been in situations where I was down in the playoffs. If you want to win, if you want to advance, you need to come back up. It’s lessons of life, lessons of sports.”