Calgary Flames unable to recover against Phoenix Coyotes and loses 4-3 - NHL
Calgary played well against Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, but it wasn’t able to penetrate in Phoenix’s defence after scoring two major goals in the last period and lost 4-3 at home.
Calgary Flames now has lost three regulation games straight, twice against Coyotes which is on a three-game winning streak and another to Vancouver. In the total four meeting between Flames and Coyotes, Phoenix has dominated all.
Lee Stempniak opened up the match for Phoenix, scoring the opening goal nearly midway through the first.
Olli Jokinen scored his 15th of the season, same as Stempniak, 10 minutes later to tie up the heated competition.
Eric Belanger got an early break during the second period, back handing it into the top shelf through Miikka Kiprusoff, retaking the lead and ending the first 40 minutes at 2-1 in favour of Coyotes.
It was still anyone’s game entering the final, but the guests continued to dominate.
Keith Yandle and Michal Rozsival both scored 19 seconds apart, widening the gap by three.
Kiprusoff stopped a total of 21 shots and his rival, Ilya Bryzgalov, rejected 27 as both teams had equal shot attempts on the net in the third period.
However, the sold out Calgary crowd went wild after Mikael Backlund responded nearly a minute later from the centre of the ice during the only power-play of the final period.
Alex Tanguay blasted another one though Bryzgalov midway, from an extremely tight angle, bringing down the lead to just one.
Unfortunately, the hosts couldn’t keep up with Coyotes anymore, settling the score at the end of the match at a close 4-3.
Both, David Moss and Brenden Morrison, were out due to undisclosed injuries. They’ll need to come back as soon as they’re healthy, because Calgary’s coming close to being thrown out of the playoff’s elite-eight.
Luckily for Flames, Nashville lost its game today as well against Los Angeles Kings or else Predators would have climbed over Calgary for sure since it is only down by a point.
Phoenix has two more games on its four-game road trip left, after winning the first two, they look confident going against the league toppers from the bottom, Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and face a real test the very next day against league toppers, Vancouver
Canucks.
Calgary faces Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, looking to at least win the final game at home after losing the previous two.
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