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The Calgary Flames are on a roll.
It’s been some time since let’s imagine that confidently and comfortably.
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Final season, Flames followers waited for his or her crew to get it collectively and go on a run. It didn’t occur.
And the early days of the 2023-24 season had been regarding, to say the least, with even essentially the most optimistic Calgarians questioning whether or not GM Craig Conroy ought to simply begin flipping veterans for younger property or draft picks to fast-track a rebuild.
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That’s nonetheless on the desk. No person’s saying in any other case, particularly if key pending free brokers Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm and Chris Tanev aren’t re-signed by the commerce deadline. The Flames can’t danger shedding them without cost after the season.
However proper now? You don’t need to look very laborious to see that the Flames (20-18-5) are a reasonably good hockey crew.
Saturday’s 3-1 win over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights was simply the most recent proof. The final month has supplied loads extra.
The Flames have performed 14 video games since Dec. 14 of final 12 months.
They’ve obtained a 9-4-1 document over that interval and have had most likely their finest three-game stretch of the season this week. In back-to-back-to-back wins over the Ottawa Senators, Arizona Coyotes and the Golden Knights, the Flames have outscored their opponents 15-6.
Since ending off a four-game road-trip with losses to the Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks, the Flames have bounced again. They’ve accomplished so in a means that makes that defeat by the hands of the cellar-dweller Blackhawks appear nearly baffling.
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“We’ve obtained a resilient crew, we’ve obtained quite a lot of guys stepping up and taking part in actually good hockey,” mentioned Flames winger Blake Coleman. “Actually, we’ve obtained all people going proper now, which is nice, that’s the way in which we’ve obtained to play. (Jacob Markstrom’s) been himself, he’s been red-hot for us. It’s been an excellent response after two powerful street losses and losses that might have set us again mentally, however all people’s been in good spirits and the arrogance is rising greater and better day by day.”
Markstrom too courageous?
Coleman is true to level out Markstrom’s play. He’s been nearly as good as any goaltender within the NHL not too long ago and the results of Saturday’s recreation may need been very totally different had he not stood on his head throughout a livid second-period push by the Golden Knights. He wound up stopping 32 of the 33 pictures he confronted.
That he completed the sport sprawled on the ice attempting to cease pictures with a naked hand after he misplaced his glove felt nearly symbolic. Had Vegas scored within the final 5 seconds, it wouldn’t have mattered, however Markstrom’s too aggressive to simply give one up.
It’s courageous, though possibly too courageous for a few of his teammates.
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“That’s the form of man he’s,” Coleman mentioned. “He’s extremely aggressive, he’s obtained a naked hand attempting to make a glove save with 5 seconds left on the clock. It’s not what we need to see. We’d prefer to have him hold his hand and hold taking part in for us, but it surely speaks to the form of man he’s. He’s a giant cause we gained the sport, however he’s obtained that braveness and that character that’s been radiating via our crew in entrance of him.”
Markstrom isn’t the one Flames participant who’s rising to the event.
Coleman added two extra factors on Saturday evening. His offensive recreation has been a revelation this season. His two-way play has at all times been his calling card, however the 32-year-old scored his nineteenth aim on Saturday evening. That’s three again of his profession excessive of twenty-two, set in 2018-19 with the New Jersey Devils.
He’s additionally obtained 37 factors. His profession excessive is 38, set final 12 months.
It’s price noting that the Flames are solely 43 video games into their season. Coleman goes to sail previous his career-best totals.
And he’s removed from alone in choosing up his recreation.
Nazem Kadri scored his 14th of the season on Saturday evening. He’s on a six-game level streak, with 4 targets and 4 assists in that stretch. Mikael Backlund had two factors, too, and Connor Zary continued his wonderful rookie season with a heads-up help on Kadri’s aim.
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Most significantly, the Flames obtained the win. They’re two video games over .500 for the primary time all season.
“We are able to’t go .500 anymore, we’ve obtained to make up floor and catch groups,” Markstrom mentioned. “We’ve obtained to string just a few collectively and this was journey and we’ve obtained to go residence and cost the battles tomorrow after which get again to work
“I believe it’s good. We’re by no means out of a recreation. Our begins have been actually good and we’re getting targets from quite a lot of totally different individuals. In the present day the power-play obtained us an enormous aim after which the penalty-kill did an excellent job.”
The Flames will now return residence for a six-game homestand, starting Tuesday in opposition to the Coyotes, earlier than the all-star break. They should hold their scorching streak up in the event that they need to have any probability of creating the playoffs. The groups round them are scorching, too, most notably the Edmonton Oilers and Seattle Kraken.
There might be choices to be made earlier than the commerce deadline.
However for now, they’re taking part in some awfully good hockey.
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