Flames earn ‘huge point’ with heart despite continued offensive shortcomings
One shot in the first period. One goal in nine periods. Yet somehow, one point in Raleigh. Despite their continued offensive lethargy, the Flames salvaged something from nothing on Sunday night.
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RALEIGH, N.C. — One shot in the first period.
One goal in nine periods.
Yet somehow, one point in Raleigh.
In one of their strangest outings of the season, the Calgary Flames ended the fourth-longest scoreless stretch in franchise history just in time to steal a desperately needed point from the host Hurricanes.
“We were joking in the dressing room before the third that, ‘the ninth period is the charm,’” chuckled Rasmus Andersson, referring to a Nazem Kadri power play finish in the third period of a 2-1 overtime loss that ended 171:34 of scoreless hockey for the Flames.
“We managed to get one. Huge for our power play to step up there.”
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Reeling from two-straight 3-0 losses in Florida, the Flames opened the first period in Carolina being horrifically outplayed, and outshot 12-1.
It had been four years since they’d last had just one shot in a frame.
Their only shot, a bad-angle wrister from Andersson, came 17:32 into the period, which is the latest any team in the league has waited to record its first in a period this season.
All the while, Dustin Wolf held the Flames in a game in which they started pushing back at the start of the second period.
Kadri’s one-timer through Pyotr Kochetkov with 13 minutes left in the third set up a frantic finish in which the Flames threw everyone and everything in front of the Canes to kill off a double minor in the final five minutes of the game.
“Bahler blocked one with the back of his head,” smiled Wolf, of a shot off the back of Kevin Bahl’s helmet with 35 seconds left that left him motionless on the ice for several moments.
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“He was a warrior out there. That sums up our team right there — it doesn’t matter how you get the job done, as long as you get it done.
“At some point, these tough times to score goals are going to flip and we’re going to score plenty.”
Bahl was seen walking around after the game, and the coach confirmed he was fine, suffering a pressure cut when the puck hit the back of the helmet.
After the two teams traded chances in overtime, Sebastian Aho’s one-timer beat Wolf for his NHL record-tying fifth overtime winner of the season.
Those looking for positives in a stretch that has seen the Flames fall to just one goal more than 32nd-ranked Nashville needn’t look further than the late desperation exhibited by the visitors.
It helped them steal a point that ties them with Vancouver for the west’s final wild card spot.
“For me, it’s finding a way to stick with it, and I thought the guys did tonight,” said coach Ryan Huska, who made Yegor Sharangovich a healthy scratch for obvious reasons.
“The penalty kill at the end of the game was probably the tell for me that we’re going to come out of it. You go through these stretches during the season when you get into ruts. We’re in one offensively right now, but it will turn as long as the work and the compete is still there, and I saw that right until the end tonight.”
A Joel Hanley fight with Andrei Svechnikov fired up the lads late. A nonstop series of blocks and Wolf saves late did the same.
This team is finding a way to stay in the west’s wild-card turtle race with goaltending and heart, which have done well at times to mask their offensive challenges.
“It sucks,” said Nazem Kadri of a goalless drought that saw his club trail Carolina 21-7 in high-danger scoring chances.
“But I’ve seen this happen a million times. There’s certain stretches in the season where, for whatever reason, you get cold or hot. It works on both ends of the spectrum. Right now we’ve got to work a little harder for goals but they’ll come and they’ll come in bunches.”
They certainly won’t be coming via the trade route, as Friday’s deadline will not see the Flames land a 30- or 40-goal scorer.
Craig Conroy continues to reiterate, “The plan is the plan.”
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This bunch has got to figure it out on their own, which is exactly what they fought hard to do Sunday despite playing less than 24 hours after their most disappointing outing of the season vs Florida.
The mileage on this six-game roadie is certainly adding up, the stakes are getting higher, and the opposition is as tough as it gets with matchups against five Cup contenders.
After a day off on Monday, the Flames get a tiny reprieve of sorts with a game in Philadelphia against old buddies Jakob Pelletier and Andrei Kuzmenko.
It’s the perfect time to try ironing out two consecutive games with new lines before heading to Dallas.
“I’m glad we fought right to the end,” said Kadri of an emotional night in which he was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing what he perceived as a missed tripping penalty that led to Carolina’s first goal.
“We’d like to get two, but that’s a huge point for us.”
