Sean Monohan #23 celebrates his goal with Jiri Hudler #24 of the Calgary Flames while Brad Richardson #15 of the Vancouver Canucks skates away in Game Six of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Scotiabank Saddledome on April 25, 2015 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.Todd Korol/Getty Images
The miracle comeback was a staple of the Calgary Flames' playbook this past NHL regular season, so who is surprised that they would turn to it again, in their time of need?
No one actually.
The Flames gave up three goals on the first four shots they faced, falling behind 3-0 less than 10 minutes into Saturday's sixth game of the Pacific Division semi-final against the Vancouver Canucks. A seventh game seemed almost assured; after all, the last three times the teams met in the playoffs, the series went the distance.
But as they had all season long, the Flames rallied from behind. In what will probably go down as one of the greatest comebacks in franchise history, Matt Stajan's goal with 4:17 to go in the third period capped a wild come-from-behind 7-4 Calgary victory, which sent the Flames into the second playoff round for only the second time since they won the 1989 Stanley Cup. The last two Calgary goals went into the empty net – Jiri Hudler and Michael Ferland both scoring for the second time in the game.
Calgary will play the Anaheim Ducks, goaltender Jonas Hiller's ex-team, in the second round – and what a delicious scenario that will be. The series could start as early as Wednesday in Anaheim.
A dozen different times this season, the Flames came from behind to pull games out of the fire, a mark of their character and resilience, said coach Bob Hartley.
"When you coach a group of athletes that believe, you get crazy games like this one," said Hartley.
"Those guys were just amazing – and what about the crowd? The crowd never left us. We were down three-zip, but we felt still their support. What a great story."
That story was spread over a number of different threads. First off, there was Stajan. Tactically, Hartley began the series playing his top line – featuring Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Hudler – against the Sedins. Gradually, he shifted away from that match-up and began to play Stajan against Henrik Sedin. Stajan set up the all-important first Calgary goal – scored by the rookie Ferland, his first-ever in NHL playoff history – on a gorgeous backhand pass that slid between the legs of a Canucks' defender, onto Ferland's stick. In a game of wild momentum swings, it gave the Flames hope.
Then, with the game tied on the first of Hudler's two goals, Stajan scored the game winner with 4:17 to go in regulation.
On the play, Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller made two saves – first on David Jones, then on Ferland – but the rebound settled nicely at Stajan's feet about 10 feet from the goal. Stajan took a quick look and then roofed a shot, past Miller's outstretched glove. It was Stajan's first goal of the series, and it couldn't have come at a better time.
"We found a way," said Stajan. "To eliminate a team like that, it's not easy. They're a great hockey team.
"There were still five minutes left, so I was just trying to get the job done. Now, I can really enjoy it. You just battle through it. I'm just happy we didn't go to overtime."
Stajan joined the Flames in the Dion Phaneuf trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs and the early part of his Calgary career was erratic. But Hartley has entrusted him to play an important defensive role and to act as a mentor to the team's younger players - and he has embraced the role as something of an elder statesmen to the Flames' kiddie corp attack.
"You feel it for sure," said Stajan, of Calgary's pent-up desire for playoff success. "You just go in the crowd and the energy in the city is incredible, even during the day. It's the same in here too. It hasn't been exactly the way we want it ever since I've been here. We want it. We want to prove we deserve to be here. We beat a pretty good hockey team over there, probably our biggest rival these days. It's a good series win - and long overdue for sure."
As Hudler noted afterward, Calgary had two great minutes right off the Hudler missing on a close-in backhand chance, Miller denying Sam Bennett on a point-blank opportunity.
The crowd was in it; everything was going Calgary's way, until Brandon McMillan scored on a fat rebound left by Flames' starter Hiller and suddenly it was 1-0 Vancouver. Less than five minutes later, with the Canucks killing a penalty to Alex Edler, Jannik Hansen darted across the high slot and made it 2-0.
That spelled the end of Hiller's night – surrendering two goals on three shots after giving up just two on 43 shots two nights before.
In came Karri Ramo and before he had a chance to settle in, Radim Vrbata scored on a Canucks' power play and it was 3-0 Vancouver less than 10 minutes into the game. Calgary got one back before the period ended, Ferland's first-ever playoff goal, and then the Flames' big line came to life, Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau scoring their first even-strength goals of the series to tie it up.
In all, Calgary's top line produced four of the team's seven goals. Ramo picked up the victory in relief, after Hiller won the first three games of the series.
"You can't really take it as anything but a hockey game and try to focus on stopping the puck," said Ramo. "We got ourselves in a deep hole and we did what we've been doing all year – just stuck to the plan, keep moving the feet, shooting pucks, going for rebounds. There are a lot of character guys on this team. We got a big win. It's one step closer to the goal and we just move on."
Defenceman Kris Russell played a game-high 29 minutes and 15 seconds, just ahead of T.J. Brodie, who played 28:47. Calgary has relied heavily on those two, plus Dennis Wideman, in the aftermath of the biceps tendon injury to Mark Giordano. It will be interesting to see if Giordano, who was not expected to play again this season, might be close enough to perhaps get into the line-up sometime soon. He has been skating with the team, but he hasn't been able to put much on his shot.
Russell said the Ducks would pose a different challenge than Vancouver because they are a heavier team.
"They have some big guys with big shots," said Russell. "We'll just have to go in with a game plan, just as we have all season. It's going to be a challenge, but we've risen to the occasion before and I think we're excited about the opportunity."