Talking recently about his honest approach, Calgary Flames head coach Brent Sutter said there’s no shame in losing if you deserved better.
His team deserved better in last night’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
Despite more than doubling the Avs in shots, building a 2-0 lead, and essentially outplaying their opponent in every aspect of the game except goaltending, the Flames could only come away with a single point in the battle of Northwest Division rivals at the Saddledome.
Thanks to goalie Craig Anderson’s heroics in the third period, overtime session and the showdown — during which he stopped two of three Flames shooters — the Avs leapfrogged the Flames in the standings.
Anderson’s third-period save on Mark Giordano said it all.
Stabbing the puck away with the blocker after the Flames defenceman rushed to a rebound and slammed the puck at what was briefly a wide-open cage, Anderson shattered what looked like a nearly perfect performance for the homeside.
They got their fans into it early.
Brandon Prust was the only member of the Flames to drop the gloves in a fiery win over the Canucks in Vancouver Saturday.
He had plenty of company last night against the Avs.
More fighting majors were handed out than combined shots fired on net for much of the opening period, and the tone was set from the start after Robyn Regehr and Chris Stewart collided in the corner on the first shift.
Shoving quickly turned to punching, and the pair were sent to the sin bin just 20 seconds after the puck dropped.
Not wanting to be left out, heavyweight Brian McGrattan squared off with the Avalanche’s David Koci — a long battle featuring big windups and little defence — to the delight of a home crowd that hasn’t seen its hosts this fired up all season.
Before members of the Sea of Red could even sit down after giving McGrattan a standing ovation, they were on their feet again cheering on Prust as he battled Cody McLeod five seconds later on the ensuing faceoff.
The trifecta might have been enough to satisfy right up to the first intermission, but the Flames managed to entertain with a little offence, too.
Motoring past defenceman Scott Hannan to a loose puck chipped deep by Jamie Lundmark, Flames centre Daymond Langkow tapped it back blindly to Rene Bourque, who quickly slammed it past Anderson for a 1-0 lead 15:24 in.
Proving they’re more than just fists, Prust and McGrattan teamed up to give the Flames a two-goal lead early in the second period after pinning the Avs deep for an entire shift.
Dustin Boyd knocked in McGrattan’s rebound for his sixth of the season.
Erasing the two-goal gap minutes apart in the latter half of the second period, the Avs used traffic in front of Miikka Kiprusoff to make the most out of a couple of harmless-looking shots. Paul Stastny tipped John-Michael Liles point shot on the powerplay to cut the lead in half.
Stewart tied it three minutes later, skating around the perimeter with the puck and then spinning and snapping a quick shot just inside the post on the short side before Kiprusoff realized it was coming and kicked out his right skate in a late attempt to keep it out.
Stewart also scored the shootout winner.
steve.macfarlane@sunmedia.ca
