I was actually kind of impressed that the Flames of today could take a period off against the Hawks and still manage to make things interesting. If this were last year we’d be looking at a 6-1 final. No 5-1, because the last goal was an empty-netter.
The real story of this game was injuries. Morrison looked seriously hurt, and it looked like a knee – which is bad news for old guys. Giordano also took a pretty good shot, but I think he only missed one shift. Hagman got rocked, for some reason he thought it safe to stand in the middle of the ice and spin around. Looked like a shoulder, but he returned. Sarich got a skate across the face, while he was in the middle of taking a penalty. Oh the nerve of Jonathan Toews.
This was a game that looked tough on the schedule, and you aren’t going to win them all, so it’s almost okay. However the games Friday against Columbus and Sunday against Nashville are games that Calgary needs.
I’m only commenting b/c last time I did after a loss, the Flames won again … and the Flames need all the help they can get.
And on an optimistic note, a couple of years ago when Pittsburgh won the Cup, they actually had a terrible first half, fired their coach, hired the guy who’s name rhymes with Plasma, then had a strong run to make the playoffs and just kept winning. So, all we need is Crosby and Malkin, and we might be able to do that too.