The month of November was less than friendly to the Calgary Flames. After opening the season with a surprisingly respectable and potentially competitive October record of 5-5-2, the Flames went 4-8-2 in November to find themselves sitting in 13th place in the Western conference heading into Friday night’s match-up with the Colorado Avalanche. In 14 games last month, Calgary surrendered four or more goals on seven different occasions and outshot opponents a mere five times, the same number of times they were outshot by a margin of 10 or more (Picture the Leafs, but without the wins).
Of course, injuries played a major factor in the Flames’ November struggles. Winger Lee Stempniak miss the first five games nursing a broken foot, while alternate captain Curtis Glencross missed all but the first three contests thanks to a second-degree MCL tear that still has him shelved. Most importantly, Flames captain Mark Giordano, the top shut-down D-man that had averaged over 25 minutes of ice-time a game was out for the entirety of the month recovering from a broken ankle suffered in an Oct. 21 clash with Los Angeles.
The good news is that the Flames are riding a two-game win-streak into the Saddledome to face the Avs on Friday night, thanks a pair of strong victories to wrap up a dismal month and start a new one. And that small burst of success comes just in time for a string of games that, although they’re definitely not easy match-ups, Calgary stands an excellent chance of winning, provided they show up to play.
Colorado is a force to be reckoned with this year, but Calgary gave them a run for their money in their first tilt of the season on Nov. 8 in Denver, and will have home-ice advantage for this contest. The Flames lost that game 4-2, but were playing their second road game in as many nights after a close loss in St. Louis the evening before. Calgary has distinctly winnable games against the lowly Oilers and the inconsistent Hurricanes, and sandwiched between is the game of the year in Cowtown.
After being traded to Pittsburgh at last year’s trade deadline and signing with the Bruins in the off-season, Jarome Iginla will play his first game in Calgary since March 24. To say it will be an emotional night is an understatement, and the Flames will be looking to use the crowd’s energy against a Boston team with a less-than-exceptional road record.
Things in Cowtown have a good chance of getting rough once again during the week before Christmas; the team plays the last three of a five-game road-trip against Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh before returning home for a bout with the Blues before the break.
In their most recent wins, the Flames demonstrated some truly positive things. After being trounced by the Ducks 5-2 in Anaheim the night before, and getting outshot 42-21 in the process, Calgary topped the Kings 2-1 in Los Angeles, playing a sound defensive game and limiting the Kings to 22 shots. That was followed by a 4-1 home triumph against the Coyotes. That game saw Giordano record a goal and an assist in his first game since October, and a rare recovery by the Flames after a poor opening period. Bad starts have been a constant issue this season, but Calgary managed to score four straight goals after giving up the first yet again. Karri Ramo also stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced, while his team-mates blocked another 21.
Ramo’s recent success comes after Reto Berra handled the lion’s share of November’s responsibilities. Berra’s numbers weren’t sensational, but he held his own on multiple occasions when his teammates allowed the opposition to amass shots with ease, and had a couple of highlight-reel saves in the process. With Berra and now Ramo both showing that they’re capable of handling the net, at least for now, and Giordano returning to the line-up, no-nonsense bench-boss Bob Hartley will be pushing harder than ever to get his team to finally shore up their defensive play and grind out some more character wins like those against L.A. and Phoenix.
If the Flames can find some more early success in December, they’ll have an excellent opportunity to build some momentum for their tougher match-ups later in the month and head into the holiday break and the new year in a much better position than their current one. The flip side of that coin, of course, is that Calgary could just as easily be buried by its difficult lead-up to the holidays. December could be a big month for the Flames, and they control their own fate.
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