BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: ELLIOTT FINDS HIS FORM
It was the kind of save every Canadian kid has either made in a frozen street or dreamed of making.
The high glove showstopper, snaring a would-be top-shelfer with an acrobatic split-stance extension Cal Ripken would be proud of.
It came almost four minutes into a wildly exciting overtime period that wildly contradicted the previous 60 minutes.
The shot was delivered at high velocity by Detroit Red Wings defenceman Ryan Sproul and snared by Flames netminder Brian Elliott.
The whistle blew, the crowd exploded.
Seconds after play continued, Mikael Backlund scored the winner, but there was no doubt who the hero of the night was.
“I looked over at the bench and the bench was going crazy,” said Backlund of the five-bell save Elliott made to punctuate his night as the game’s first star.
“Everybody in the rink was excited. It was a big save at the right time and that’s the goalie he is. He’s building confidence for us and been clutch for us the last two months and that’s what we knew he could do when we got him.”
It wasn’t Elliott’s only heroic snare in the extra frame as the 31-year-old made a shoulder save on Tomas Tatar in the opening minute, a kick save on Andreas Athanasiou and another stop on Anthony Mantha as part of a 35-save outing.
And those last ones came on the heels of a back-breaking goal by Tatar with 1.8 seconds left that forced overtime and threatened to disrupt the confidence he showed all night, including a second period in which he held the fort despite being outshot 14-2.
“Whenever we have a hurdle we never let it get in the way,” said Elliott of the team’s character-building 3-2 win.
“We just play our best for our next shift and the guys have bought into that. It’s awesome for me to see because the guys are doing everything they can to come back and block shots and negate any chances the opposing team is getting.”
It’s just the latest in an impressive string of performances that has seen Elliott go 9-1-1 in his last 11 starts, extending the Flames win steak to six.
On his back this team will ride. Not only has Elliott’s play lifted the Flames into a more comfortable playoff perch and saved the team from shelling out costly draft picks for a rental ’tender, but it opens the door for the real possibility the pending free agent may even be asked to stay next year.
And beyond.
Little early for that discussion just yet, as there are still 16 regular-season games remaining, plus playoffs.
And he’ll play as big a role in the Flames’ fortunes then as he has the last quarter-season.
“Looking at St Louis last year down the stretch he was one of the most solid players and in the playoffs,” said Backlund. “We knew what we were getting.”
Granted, it took half a season for Elliott to find his form — something few worry about now.
As Backlund’s winner hit the twine, 18,000 fans sprung to their feet and most of the bench raced out to mob the Swede; the four defencemen skated over to Elliott to congratulate him.
With his dad in the stands and the crowd on its feet he skated out minutes later as first star with a stick and a black cowboy hat to give away as part of a frenzied western night celebration gone wild.
Fair or not, it was the same sort of black hat he wore as the goat early on.
Now he wears it as the toast of the town.