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Calgary Flames at the World Championship: May 11th Recap

By Ramina Shlah

Mar 29, 2017; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames goalie Chad Johnson (31) guards his net during the warmup period against the Los Angeles Kings at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 29, 2017; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames goalie Chad Johnson (31) guards his net during the warmup period against the Los Angeles Kings at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Only one Calgary Flames player was playing yesterday at the World Championship in the hopes of obtaining a gold medal. Let’s see how that game unfolded.

We finally have a day where Team Canada played and not Team USA. That means we get to talk about Calgary Flames goaltender Chad Johnson! Sorry Johnny Gaudreau, we still love you, but it’s not about you today.

Team Canada opened up the scoring in the game against Team France with a powerplay goal by Buffalo Sabres’ Ryan O’Reilly. But a few minutes later, France would tie up the game at one a piece. Then France made it 2-1 early in the second period on a powerplay goal and Canada wouldn’t tie it up until the last minute of the period. Thanks to Canadian Captain Claude Giroux with the powerplay goal.

Then again, early in the third period, Team Canada made the score 3-2 and it would stay like that until the end of the game. Chad Johnson stopped 22 of 24 shots to help his country to a win. He’s now 2-0 and Team Canada is 4-0-0 with 12 points to lead Group A in the standings and to lead all the teams as well in the standings. We’re still in the preliminary rounds until next week when the Quarter finals officially start and the top four teams from each group make it through.

This was a much better start for the Calgary Flames netminder. I was able to watch most of the game and he seemed to be more consistent and less nervous than in his first game against Team Slovenia. Where Canada still won 7-2, but Johnson only managed to make 12 saves on 14 shots. This was a much better game for him.

Via The Star:

"“That game was really good for us as a coaching staff,” said Canadian coach Jon Cooper. “To come into a hostile environment, it was amazing to be in front of all those fans, knowing that a lot of them weren’t cheering for us.”“It was a tough game for us,” said Johnson. “They came hard and it seemed like any chance they had, they were close calls on a lot of them. As much as we controlled the puck, it seemed like whenever they had the puck, it was tough.”"

That’s all for now! In case you were wondering, Russia beat Denmark 3-0, Czech Republic beat Norway 1-0, and Sweden beat Latvia 2-0. So far today, Sweden beat Italy 8-1, Czech Republic beat Slovenia 5-1, and Germany has an early 2-0 lead against Denmark while France has an early 1-0 lead against Belarus.

Next: Throwback Thursday - Steve Smith Own Goal Game 7

Canada and USA both have days off from games today, so until tomorrow when they both play! Sorry Johnny but your country is playing at 4:15 am Mountain time, I’m not watching that.

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