Thursday night's game saw a shakeup in the lineup after the previous outing saw the Flames only score one goal. The new line combinations while putting some familiar faces together saw Calgary's offense explode for 5 goals against the Hurricanes. 

First Period

Early on into the contest the Flames had troubles clearing the zones which led to lengthy shifts for Calgary's defensive core but, did not allow the Hurricanes quality scoring chances. Just before the 5 minute mark, the Flames got their best scoring chance of the first 5 minutes when Paul Byron took a puck off the boards and nearly gave the home team the advantage. Early powerplay chances could not solve Cam Ward in net after Chris Terry got the 1st penalty of the game for holding the stick on Dennis Wideman. Wideman however had his revenge before the end of the period. Wideman's shot from the point that once look deflected by Glencross but was awarded to Wideman later on in the game. Flames lead 1-0 and 10-4 in shots going into the intermission.

Second Period

The second period started off with a bang for the Flames. They sensed blood and took advantage of key mistakes from the Hurricanes. 32 seconds into the period the Flames were sent in on a 3 on 1 break with Byron being involved in the play again gave Matt Stajan his first of the season, much to the pleasure of the crowd. 2-0 Flames. The goals kept on coming for Calgary. Sean Monahan scored his first of the season after a nice play from Jiri Hudler to give the Flames a commanding lead in the 2nd period. 3-0 Flames. Strong defensive throughout the period led to strong breakouts by the Flames who connected on many of their first pass attempts. 

Third Period

Again much like the second the Flames struck early on Ward. After winning a battle behind the net Colborne and Hudler allowed Monahan to make a beautiful dangle on Ward for the second of the night for the 20 year old center. His first multi point game of the season. Even the Flames 4th line got in on the action with Josh Jooris now getting his second point of the season on a Lance Bouma goal off the initial Jooris shot. Jonas Hiller and the Flames held down the Canes for the remainder of the game and closed out a secure 5-0 win. 

3 Stars

1) Sean Monahan

2) Matt Stajan

3) Jonas Hiller

Expect a tighter contest when Ovechkin and the Caps come to town Saturday night. The puck drops at 10 PM Eastern Time.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Randy Foster
Flames fan reporting on all news from the Stampede city since 2011.