|
 The defenseman's second goal of the game with 1:48 remaining in
overtime gave the Flames a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
The win snapped a four-game home and overall losing streak for the
Flames (2-5-0). The Red Wings (3-3-1) have dropped four straight.
"It feels really good," Giordano said. "I thought that's our game
out there. We played our game all night. I thought we deserved a
better fate earlier in the game, but we waited right until the end.
"It was a great atmosphere out there. I'm happy for our team to get
back in the win column. We deserved that one I thought and got
rewarded late."
During the three-on-three overtime session, Giordano took a pass
from left winger Johnny Gaudreau in the Detroit zone and deked Red
Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard.
"When I got the puck from Johnny, my first instinct was to shoot,
but the goalie charged out and raced over and I surprised myself
with that one," Giordano said.
Giordano finished with two goals and an assist. Gaudreau assisted on
both Giordano goals. Jonas Hiller stopped 27 Detroit shots and has
been in goal for both Calgary wins this season.
"(Jonas) stepped up and played a great game for us, kept us in it
and made some really timely saves," said Flames center Sean Monahan.
"It's a big credit to him for that win. He stepped up for us and Gio
took charge for us too. That's why he's our captain."
Flames coach Bob Hartley was relieved to get a win at home.
"It means a lot," he said. "We had a great second. We even had a
better third period. I like our pressure. We never gave up. We got
rewarded. We hit a few posts. There were lots of pucks that were
bouncing. I was pushing for our guys because gosh, they've worked so
hard. We got rewarded so it's a great feeling."
Calgary center Joe Colborne sent the game to overtime by tipping in
Giordano's shot from the point with 1:12 remaining in the third
period.
Howard held the Red Wings in the game with 37 saves but took little
comfort in his performance.
"It doesn't matter," he said. "At the end of the day we didn't get
the extra point and that's all that matters."
First-period power play goals by center Gustav Nyquist and
defenseman Brendan Smith staked the Red Wings to a 2-1 lead.
Nyquist opened the scoring on the power play at 7:38 of the first
period, one-timing a pass from center Henrik Zetterberg past Hiller.
[to top of second column] |
The Flames tied it at 11:02 when Giordano's shot from the point got
through a crowd and over Howard's stick-side shoulder.
Smith beat Hiller to the glove side from the point at 12:40, also
while Detroit was enjoying a man advantage.
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said his team tried to protect the
lead too much in the third period.
"We didn't get on our toes enough," he said. "When we did have time
in their end we didn't do a good enough job of getting pucks to the
net, not that we weren't attempting to do so.
"We got to do a better job of getting through."
Calgary now heads for New York to face the Rangers on Sunday and the
Islanders on Monday. The Red Wings are in Vancouver to face the
Canucks on Saturday.
NOTES: D Ladislav Smid returned to the Flames lineup on Friday after
being out since Jan. 19 because of a herniated disc in his neck that
required surgery. He last played Jan. 19 against Detroit, but the
injured occurred in a contest Dec. 12 against the Pittsburgh
Penguins. ... Calgary was without D TJ Brodie (broken bone in hand)
and C Lance Bouma (broken fibula). Healthy scratches were LW Brandon
Bollig and D Jakub Nakladal, who was recalled from its AHL affiliate
in Stockton on Wednesday. ... Absent for Detroit due to injury were
C Pavel Datsyuk (ankle), RW Johan Franzen (post-concussion symptoms)
and C Brad Richards (back). Richards, who has two assists in six
games, played Wednesday in Edmonton and is listed as day-to-day. ...
Scratches were D Jakub Kindl and RW Tomas Jurco.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
