Again early in this season the Flames pulled off yet another back to back win. The Flames now have wins on both of the second of the back to backs to start the season, something Bob Hartley and the coaching staff have to be happy about. This is largely in part due to the Flames conditioning and work ethic and belief in the system that Hartley and his crew has put together. Typically the Flames do not fare well in these games and would need something special to happen. Enter Jonas Hiller. After the Hiller's performance vs. the Blues, expectations were that Hiller would bounce back, he did that and more.
The Flames were outshot 50-18 during the contest with the most lopsided period being number one, 18-2 in favor of the high powered Blackhawks. Dan Carcillo who recently signed a 1 year deal with the Hawks had 2 glorious chances on Hiller but the Swiss netminder was up to the task. Calgary were also giving the Blackhawks ample opportunities to capitalize throughout the 1st period, 3 consecutive icing calls saw Kris Russell nearly hit the 10 minute mark for ice time before the period came to a close.
Second period started with the hometown team peppering Hiller again. Save after save was thwarted by Hiller and his company. Calgary blocked 30 shots throughout the affair. Just before the midway point of the period the Flames were given a powerplay thanks to Marcus Kruger's interferance call, shortly after the penalty ended pivot Joe Colborne won a key offensive zone draw and Dennis Wideman fired a deflected shot past Corey Crawford to give the Flames the advantage on just their 7th shot of the night.
Penalty problems allowed the Hawks to capitalize on their 7th powerplay of the night when Andrew Shaw tipped a Patrick Sharp shot home to tie the game at 1's. Hiller again stood tall and thanks to his defence pushed the game to extra time for the second consecutive game. Mikael Backlund had other thoughts of the game going to the shootout. The young Swedish forward streaked in on a pass from Brodie and caught a flat footed Brent Seabrook and launched a wrister to the top corner beating Crawford and getting the Flames the victory.
The Flames in all aspects of this game were outplayed and outmatched. Even in Corsi and Fenwick ratings they were massacred, but something special happened at the United Center this night and Calgary now sits with a 3-2-0 record to start the 2014-2015 season.
Next up the Flames take on the Blue Jackets, 5:00 PM Friday at Nationwide Arena.