Young Flames burn Avs
Michael Ferland scores both goals in 2- 1 victory
DENVER — Common sense suggested it shouldn’t have been close.
On paper, the Colorado Avalanche looked like an opening- day lineup even though they are still ironing out the kinks in National Hockey League pre- season.
Meanwhile, the Calgary Flames brought a roster full of prospects to Denver in hopes they’d change the minds of the coaching staff, win jobs, or make an impact.
And in a tight 2- 1 win for the visitors, Michael Ferland definitely made an impact.
The winger used his strength and size to battle in front of the net — scoring two goals, similar to his former junior pace — and hardly looked like an NHL rookie, let alone a guy who missed a large portion of an American Hockey League season with a knee injury.
“That’s what I have to bring to the table,” said the lighter, fitter Ferland, who had opened the scoring for the Flames, dancing around Colorado’s Jan Hejda in the first period. “I just want to keep my feet moving and keep feeling good and keep having fun.
“Obviously, they’re cutting guys and letting guys go, so I just want to keep playing hard and stick around as long as I can.”
But that wasn’t all Calgary had done right that period.
Right before Ferland’s first marker, Patrick Sieloff caught an edge behind Karri Ramo’s net and was hit by Daniel Maggio. Brandon Bollig was there to greet him with a fistful. Later, Sieloff got even and delivered a hit on Maggio but did the dirty work himself and fought Avalanche centre Samuel Henley with 6: 25 remaining in the middle frame.
After 20 minutes, the Flames were leading 1- 0 and being outshot 13- 5.
The tough play, coupled with solid goaltending from Karri Ramo ( particularly on two penalty kills), made the difference in the end.
Ryan O’Reilly, his face still bearded in full playoff form, exploited the inexperience of Flames prospect Ryan Culkin and slipped around the defender to pick the top corner of Ramo’s crease. The Avs centreman made it a tie game at 1- 1 less than five minutes into the second period.
Shortly after, Ferland picked up a rebound and smoothly planted the Flames’ second goal of the game.
“It’s another one- goal game,” said head coach Bob Hartley. “It doesn’t give us any points in the standings right now, and we’ve played in a few ( one- goal games) already since the start of the year. We’ve been on the good side and that’s our plan.
“I hate going back to last year, but we left lots of wins on the table in those tight games. If we can learn to win those tight games, I think it’s a good sign for this young team.”
Colorado should have tied the game 2- 2 in the final moments when Nathan Mackinnon smartly fed Erik Johnson. A shot on net brought Ramo out and exposed ( not a good idea with Jarome Iginla and Gabriel Landeskog in front), but Lance Bouma prevented a goal.
Ramo’s night ended there, stopping 22 of 23 shots and easing back into the fold. He played his first 20 minutes of pre- season on Friday against Vancouver after missing a portion of training camp with a lingering hip injury.
“He was great,” Hartley said. “If it wasn’t for Karri, we can jump on the plane in the first period and head back home. That’s what you need on the road . . . if Karri picks up where he ended last year, it’s good news for us.”
Joni Ortio, in relief, turned aside 13 of 13.
Having been out- shot the entire game, the Flames finally received the memo midway through the third period. Max Reinhart had a nice feed to Joe Colborne who unleashed a shot on Semyon Varlamov while Raphael Diaz continued the pressure on the rebound.
That didn’t stop the Avs though.
They continued testing Calgary’s defence, especially in the last two minutes pulling their goalie on a Brian McGrattan delay of game penalty.
But the Flames were steady and Diaz blocked an Iginla shot to send the puck down the opposite end.
On the next possession, Colorado’s O’Reilly set up Andrew Agozzino but Ortio gloved it down as the buzzer sounded.
“You know what’s impressive about a young player like Ferly?” Hartley said. “Now we’re getting closer and closer to NHL hockey. You don’t want to have a separation and Ferly ( Sunday) was a force.”
C- NOTES ... The game’s three stars: 1. Flames LW Michael Ferland — Nets two and looks sharp, physical and not like a guy who was off for nearly an entire season with a knee injury. 2. Flames G Karri Ramo — Faces a flurry of traffic and shots from the opportunistic Avs. 3. Avalanche Ryan O’Reilly — Dominant on the power play, slick with his stick, nets the lone goal from his side . . . Flames LW Sven Baertschi was sick with the flu and sat out Sunday’s game . . . Following Tuesday’s game, Calgary closes out the pre- season with a homeandhome with the Winnipeg Jets starting Thursday at Calgary and Saturday at Winnipeg.