Calgary Flames Lose By One Goal To Anaheim Ducks

Photo Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

It was another soulful effort by the Calgary Flames last night as they tried to defeat the almighty Anaheim Ducks. In spite of the loss, it cannot be said that Calgary doesn’t try with everything they have to defeat their opponents.

Kevin Westgarth took on former Flames forward, Tim Jackman, in a short tilt to start the game. The Flames defensive pairings held down the fort during the first period as Karri Ramo stood solid in net for not just the first period but a full three periods. Anaheim was first on the board with a powerplay goal by Nick Bonino. The first period ended with the Ducks up 1-0.

The second period saw a burst of offensive energy from Calgary as Brian McGrattan celebrated his 300th game with a deflection that ended up in the back of the Ducks net and led Big Ern to an NHL career high of four goals this season. Assists went to the other PowerLine teammates, Kevin Westgarth and Tyler Wotherspoon.

Just before the buzzer to end the second period, Jiri Hudler netted a Cammalleri-esque goal to put the Flames up 2-1 going into the third period.

Anaheim took control of the third period and capitalized with two goals by Mathieu Perreault and Andrew Cogliano, stalling the game at 3-2 throughout the last frame. The Flames pressure just wasn’t enough, even with a late penalty on the Ducks.

Flames fell 3-2 to the Ducks after a 7-2 blowout in their last match-up. According to the Flames twitter account, this was the 44th one-goal game this season. Half the season has been won or lost by one goal.

A full recap is on the Flames website.

My 1 Star

Kevin Westgarth. Yes, you read that right – I’m giving My 1 Star of the game to Westgarth for his effort in the game. He started the guys off with a tilt against a former Flames player – what his motivation may have been, we don’t know, but he started them off right because it lit a fire under a smoldering Flames team and helped them pick up the pace. He assisted on the McGrattan goal, which may not have been pretty, but it was effective. He isn’t afraid of anything or anyone on the ice, putting himself up front in the face of confrontation. He sticks up for his teammates with a vigour that shows no fear and a never-quit attitude that this team has been known for all season during the rebuild. While others wonder what value Westgarth has added to the team, I have just given you a handful of reasons.

If that isn’t enough, here’s more fuel for the Westgarth fire. Not only is he the face of the Flames PowerLine, but he also plays smart. Kevin Westgarth holds a degree from Princeton University where he played for the Princeton Tigers, earning 23 points in 29 games during his last season. Brains and beauty are rare, but Westy seems to have both – on and off the ice.

Side Notes

On the one year anniversary of the Flames trading away Jarome Iginla to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the players that were acquired in the trade were both scratched during last night’s game. Ben Hanowski and Kenny Agostino did not play in the game against Anaheim.

Mikael Backlund was honored recently with the Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award for all his work with the Kids Cancer Care Foundation. The Calgary Herald has the full story. Congrats, Backlund!

Go Flames Go!