Photo Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
Last night’s tilt against the L.A. Kings was another surprising win for the home team at the Saddledome.
There was a last minute line change as Paul Byron sat out due to his wife giving birth to a baby. Congrats to the Byrons! In place for Paul Byron was Kenny Agostino.
The first period was all Flames offensively and defensively. They came on strong against a generally dominating L.A. Kings team. T.J. Galiardi scored the opening goal in the first via a sweet pass from Mike Cammalleri. The Flames were up 1-0 going into the second.
The Flames looked like seasoned professionals as the second period began. With four minutes gone on the clock in the middle frame, Sean Monahan put the Flames up by two with the assist going to Galiardi. Later in the period, Matt Stajan (assist to Agostino) put the Flames up by three. Yet, they fell to the wayside for a moment and the Kings capitalized with two quick goals to end the second with a score of 3-2.
The third period wasn’t the best effort Calgary has put forth this season and L.A. once again capitalized with an equalizing goal after a mistake by the newest Flames rookie, Bryce Van Brabant. Visibly angry at himself yet still professional, Van Brabant took a seat on the bench to have Hartley come over and whisper in his ear, according to Ray Ferraro on TSN. My guess is that Hartley gave the kid some words of encouragement to not mentally beat himself up over one mistake. The fan base seemed forgiving and hopeful that Van Brabant would redeem himself soon after.
The game was 3-3 at the end of regulation and they headed to overtime. No goals were scored in OT and the shootout began. Big Joe Colborne was the first shooter who was denied by Jonathan Quick. Jiri Hudler took a long, hard shot at Quick and scored the first shootout goal for the home team. When Cammalleri missed in the third round, a fourth round would be the deciding factor as Monahan netted the winning goal.
There were no penalties called throughout the entire game. It was a good, clean game of hockey. Usually games like this are considered boring by some, but playing the Kings is never boring when the Flames are involved.
In the game against the Kings, Sean Monahan tied Jarome Iginla‘s record of rookie goals with 21 and the Calgary Flames tied the NHL record of one-goal games with 49, which had previously been set by the Florida Panthers back in the 2010-2011 season.
A full recap can be read on the Flames website.
My 1 Star
T.J. Galiardi. He had good position on the ice throughout the entire game and played smart. With a goal and an assist in last night’s game, Gali seemed calm and focused on a line with Cammalleri and Hudler. Galiardi’s last goal was on March 12th when he scored against the Anaheim Ducks. In the game against the Kings, he snapped a nine-game pointless drought. He played his position well and played smart in regards to playing the man vs playing the puck, which earns Gali My 1 Star.
Go Flames Go!