Hodgson biggest name player on the move
Warning! Warning! Don’t get behind these Hitchhoned Bluenotes. They do lockdown better than Alcatraz. “They’re a good team,’’ murmured a downcast Jarome Iginla. “You give them the lead, they’re very good with it.
“Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a tough stretch for us. We’re battling it a little bit. In the third we were a little more relentless.
“We know the race. We see the scoreboard and all that. We need to win a big percentage of the games we have left.’’
The Calgary Flames are starting to lose the plot. Unravelling like a ball of granny’s knitting near a frisky kitten.
Since clambering up to the rather modest heights of eighth place in the West on Family Day Weekend, the locals have pooched four games in a row. All in the comfy confines of home. Two points gathered from a possible eight. Coughing up leads on each occasion.
This is, if you scroll backwards a ways, an eerily similar scenario to last season’s fatal March meltdown after the heroic return from oblivion. They briefly touched their seemingly-impossible goal then, too, before slipping back into the inky abyss.
Protecting requires a totally different mindset than chasing. And they’ve not demonstrated the mental resolve to cling tight to something so precious.
“We’ve been outshot how many games in a row?’’ sighed Iginla. “We need to get more pucks on net. We know that. I don’t know if we’re over-thinking, and just not as sharp as we can be. We’ve talked about it. We’ve just got out of the groove, somehow. And it’s not something you can just turn on.’’
Monday’s is not the type of performance designed to inject the faithful with giddy confidence on a day you stand pat at the trade deadline.
The Flames were flat, singularly uninspired.
Of more concern, the magnificent Miikka Kiprusoff, arguably for the first time this campaign, seemed tired, a trifle frayed at the edges. An uncharacteristically weak first goal surrendered, from off the right wing off the supersized David Backes, tied the game — Curtis Glencross propelling Calgary ahead — jolting the St. Louis wiring into action.
And, to be honest, after counting their second — longtime Flame slayer Jason Arnott (who now has ripped 29 goals against Calgary in 57 career games) doing the honours — mounting a comeback seemed a bridge too far for Iginla and Co., despite a shade over two periods yet to be contested,
“We’re going through a spell here, we’ve got some adversity to deal with and we’ve got to handle it the right way and work through it,’’ said coach Brent Sutter.
“We’re not happy with the home stand we just had, obviously, but we need to get back on the road again and get this thing straightened out and going in the right direction.”
In a difficult spell such as this, you simply cannot compound problems with avoidable sins. And the Flames are doing just that.
A ludicrous three shots during the second period Monday. More odorous penalties, such a retaliatory roughing minor to Curtis Glencross and Blake Comeau’s needless late run at Backes along the boards that negated a pending power play eight minutes into the final stanza.
In contrast to Calgary’s mount- ing woes, there’s a crisp efficiency to the fast-tracking Missourians, a clarity and security of purpose, that the Flames, endeavouring to implement the same tight-to-thevest style, conspicuously lack.
St. Louis improved to a sparkling 33-10-7 under the attentive gaze of Ken Hitchcock.
And when Alexander Steen and Jamie Langenbrunner return from injury, set the traps, they’re going to be an even tougher proposition.
“Our forecheck in the second period got them to stand around a lot and I thought we took a lot of air out of their tires in the second,’’ reasoned the habitually quotable Hitchcock. “We reloaded hard and when we play like this, when we can roll four (lines) and keep it 5-on-5, we’re an awful good team.”
No false bluster there. The man could not be more right.
The Blues required all of 12 ticks off the scoreclock in the wake of a Scott Hannan interference minor to increase their advantage to 3-1 6:21 into the middle period. Faceoff win in the offensive zone. A lovely pass funnelled from Andy Mcdonald in for a Patrik Berglund deflection and that man Arnott hanging around to scoop up the leftovers. Easy. That strike erased any sort of doubt even the most dogged of Calgary loyalists might’ve been clinging to.
“We had the opportunity to gain some ground on some teams, get some momentum,’’ said Iginla softly. “Obviously it wasn’t very good at home.
“But there’s a quarter of a season left. There’s still time.
“All year, we’ve stayed and we’ve battled. And we’re not going to quit now. We’re going to fight and claw our way back into a playoff spot. Nobody in our room is giving up. Nobody’s thinking we’re done.’’
They may not be thinking it, but from the outside, they’re starting to look it.