Calgary Flames: Are The Comeback Kids Making A Comeback?
In an exciting comeback win over the Buffalo Sabres, the Calgary Flames finally won their first game of the season. But is that enough to predict another comeback-kids season like the 2014-2015 season?
On Tuesday night, the Calgary Flames beat the Buffalo Sabres in a third period comeback win and are now 1-2-1 in their first week of the season. Flames fans should be familiar with third period comeback wins, seeing how they won 13 of them in the 2014-2015 season.
The Cardiac Kids
At the start of the 2014-2015 season, nobody had high hopes for the Flames. At the time, the Calgary Sun predicted they would finish either 27th or 29th overall. Calgary Herald predicted they would finish 12th or 14th in the Western Conference, which has 14 teams. And The Hockey News predicted they would finish 7th in the Pacific division, which has 7 teams. So needless to say that nobody expected them to make playoffs.
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During the first two months however, the Flames were beating everyone’s expectations. Heading into December, they were 15-8-2, and the season started to look up. But then the Flames had an 8 game losing streak in December and fell out of a playoff position for the first time since the start of the season.
But, spoiler alert: The Flames ended up redeeming themselves and made playoffs. Could this season be 2014-2015 all over again?
We already know what these guys are capable of doing when trailing after 40 minutes of play, given the name “cardiac kids”. (If you don’t get that, basically it means they would give people heart attacks from how often they would be trailing and finally tying up the game late in the third). But would it work again two seasons later?
Making A Comeback?
Oct 18, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Buffalo Sabres goalie Robin Lehner (40) reacts as Calgary Flames center Sean Monahan (23) scores a goal during the overtime period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary Flames won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
On Tuesday night against the Sabres, the Calgary Flames trailed 2-1 heading into third period and ended up tying the game at 3-3, where Sean Monahan scored the game-winning overtime goal. In the 2014-2015 season, the Flames were tied for first with the Boston Bruins with nine OT wins.
They ended up with nine OT wins again last season, however last season they introduced the new 3-on-3 OT format. So you know who got a point in eight of those nine OT wins? Well, it’s none other than the kid who loves to dangle like nobody’s business. Mr. Johnny Gaudreau himself.
Nov 29, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Calgary Flames left wing Jiri Hudler (24) celebrates a goal with center Sean Monahan (23) and left wing Johnny Gaudreau (13) against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
After introducing the new 3-on-3 format, it was known around the league that the Flames knew their way around an overtime. Their total wins for the season were 35, meaning that their percentage of overtime wins was about a quarter of their total wins, which was the highest in the league. Unfortunately, some losing streaks here and there (why do they always get an 8 game losing streak), they couldn’t manage to make playoffs a second year in a row.
But maybe that will change.
Tuesday night was an exciting win because not only was it a comeback win, but the Flames finally had a win in the season, giving them that boost of confidence. And the fact that they were able to get a comeback after trailing after two periods and then win it in overtime gave them all the confidence they need.
We’ve already seen in the first three games of the season what happens when the Flames don’t play a full 60 minutes. But maybe their third period comebacks are making an appearance again. And maybe not playing the full 60 minutes won’t completely hurt them like it did last year. I mean, being the underdogs is always fun. After the first week of the season, nobody really expects much from the Flames. But fans do. And maybe the C of Red can help them pick back up where they left off a year and a half ago.
We could only hope. And hope they make a comeback.
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