LOSS TO BLUES TURNS UP HEAT ON FLAMES
All too familiar gaffes result in loss to Blues
To Cory Sarich, the explanation for a brutal four- game homestand — at the worst possible time of year — is patently obvious.
“We’re not working hard enough,” the stay - at - home defenceman spat Monday night in the silence of the Calgary Flames’ dressing room. “I think it’s plain and simple.
“I think we’re trying to figure out some things positionally, but that is second. We have to put the work in first. We have to get grittier.”
Time is running out for the Flames to rediscover their lost identity after falling 3-1 Monday to the St. Louis Blues. The latest defeat gives the local heroes two out of a possible eight points on what was supposed to be a glorious fourgame stretch at home.
On this night, the Flames hit the ice with the intention of paying GM Jay Feaster back for standing pat at the 1 p.m. NHL trade deadline (the only move for Calgary being the re-signing of journeyman Tim Jackman.)
In the legendary words of country star Randy Travis, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The same holds true for the plummet to the land of no playoffs.
All too familiar territory for the Flames in recent times.
“Mathematically, it’s definitely still possible,” Sarich said of extending the season beyond April 7. “But we need to do what makes us successful. That is hard work, playing hard, playing a physical game.’’
‘‘Everyone rolling lines — everyone not being like robots, but doing the same thing and buying in,’’ said Sarich.
“When we do that, we’ll get back in the win column.”
With this latest defeat, the Flames wake up this morning mired in 11th spot in the Western Conference — three points back of eighth-place Dallas and Colorado.
Not exactly the way the boys in red wanted to celebrate the first-ever “Forever a Flame” ceremony in honour of the legendary Al Macinnis.
The Flames opened the scoring at 5:11 on a heads-up play by Sarich catching Curtis Glencross streaking through the middle. In his third game back from a knee injury, Glencross snapped one behind Jaroslav Halak to give Calgary a 1-0 advantage.
Holding leads has proved prob- lematic for the Flames in recent times. This game proved no different, with St Louis taking advantage of a rare off period for goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.
David Backes made the miracle man look mortal at 14:13 with a harmless shot that banked off Kiprusoff’s goalie stick and trickled through the wickets.
With Mark Giordano in the penalty box for hooking, veteran Jason Arnott beat Kiprusoff from 30 feet out. (To be fair, Kiprusoff had six-foot-four, 219-pound Patrick Berglund parked in front.)
The goal came with 39.6 seconds left in first period to send the Flames to the locker-room in a foul mood.
Keep in mind: Ken Hitchcock’s teams know a thing or two about keeping the lead — and expanding on it.
The Flames showed little fight in the second period, mustering a paltry three shots on Halak.
With St. Louis on the power play, Arnott batted a rebound behind Kiprusoff at 6:21 to make it 3-1 for the travellers.
On a play that summed up Calgary’s night, Blake Comeau clobbered Carlo Colaiacovo and then smacked Chris Porter — finally something to awaken the slumbering crowd. In the ensuing on-ice discussion, Glencross took the only penalty of the exchange — a roughing minor.
Fuming in the box, the disgusted look on Glencross’s face pretty much summed up the feelings of Flames fans everywhere.
“We’re just going to bring that competitiveness and aggressiveness,” Comeau said. “We’re going through a bit of a down right now, but there’s still lots of games left for us to get in.”
A crucial two-game road swing looms. First up is a date Thursday night in Phoenix, followed by a stop Friday in Anaheim.
“A quarter of the season left,” preached captain Jarome Iginla. “It’s not like anybody in our room is giving up. We’ve been battling all year and hanging in there.
“We’re going to fight and claw our way into a playoff spot. And we’ve got to start with one game.” Time is clearly of the essence “We’re going through some adversity right now and we need to find a way to deal with it,” said head coach Brent Sutter. “We have to stay together and work through it. We need to keep our chins up and keep plugging away.”
Or else.