The Calgary Flames kept their winning streak alive Friday night. The overtime goal by Mikael Backlund in the final seconds allowed his team to edge by the Detroit Red Wings in a 3-2 victory at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary improved to six straight in what played as a lopsided game but finished as a thriller.
The Red Wings showed plenty of progress Tuesday that resulted in a much-needed victory. While they gained two point to their current standings, there was much work to be done. Things didn’t get any easier as they faced the Flames who sat on a five-game winning streak. With Calgary picking up Curtis Lazar in the trade and the Red Wings lightening their roster, it gives both teams a chance to see if the changes made turn out to have been the right decision.
Calgary had a push early in the period taking their time in the Detroit zone pressuring Petr Mrazek in his sixth consecutive start. He made four saves through five minutes while his offense was slow to offense. They found their opportunity to strike minutes later as Darren Helm put his speed to good use. His wrist shot attempt from the faceoff circle rang off the post behind Flames goaltender Brian Elliot to score his seventh of the season.
The good start for Detroit was silenced just 80 seconds later as Kris Versteeg leveled the playing field on a four-minute power play. Versteeg fired a shot four seconds into the man advantage to gain his 11th and stay a man up for the duration of the double minor. Detroit killed what was left on the clock and but continued to trail the speed of Calgary who had plenty of scoring chances. Mrazek stopped them from adding another to the scoreboard but he wasn’t out of trouble.
A bad move from Niklas Kronwall in front of his goal allowed Matt Tkachuk to gain control of a blind backhanded pass recording his 12th and a 2-1 lead for the Flames. It turned into a runway for Calgary who took everything out of Detroit to skate with the puck and take their shots at Mrazek. By the time the period came to a close, the Flames had a relentless fight that helped them out shoot the Red Wings 17-9. The turnovers were a difference maker through 20 minutes as Detroit handed too many opportunities to their opponents.
Progress came for Detroit in the second showing toughness to fight for control of the puck. It worked out as they increased productivity giving Mrazek a break while they went to work on Elliot. Through the period, they looked for the tying goal but were denied. The Flames didn’t get a lot of time to shoot but when they did, it was the Czech netminder for Detroit stopping them in their tracks to turn possession back his teammates. In a full comeback through 20 minutes, Detroit took 14 shots on goal while holding Calgary to a pair. The difference was apparent for the Red Wings despite being down a goal with the third left to play.
The period was a race to the finish with both teams completely even on both offense and defense. Detroit went for the shots but were stopped by Elliot and his defense who recorded the important blocked shots to stay alive. The same was said for the Red Wings who had Mrazek doing well again while they played tight in their zone before finding the time to gain back control.
Detroit remained down a goal and went for the sixth man with 100 seconds left on the clock. It didn’t like they were going to make it until a last second timeout came to fruition in success. With 1.8 seconds left, Tomas Tatar scored on a pass at the right moment from Henrik Zetterberg that gave them the tying goal to force overtime.
The Red Wings got into some serious trouble with a line staying on the ice much too long. Calgary had many opportunities to score in net with a breakaway at one point but Mrazek saved his team from having to lose one while they stood tall. After a break came for both teams, the Red Wings tried to switch things up in the last 1:20 where Ryan Sproul took a shot at Elliot where saw the 31-year-old goalie make a huge glove save. It was enough to energize his line mates who took off with the puck setting up a scoring chance. A 3 on 2 run ended with Backlund scoring the game winner with 1:04 left in the period to secure the team’s sixth win in a row and his 20th.
The victory pushed Calgary further into the wildcard spot of the Western Conference while a lone point added to the dwindling chance of the Red Wings making the playoffs. They couldn’t rest on the thought as a game against the Edmonton Oilers would take place Saturday night.
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