The best team in the West was also the first team eliminated from the West.
The Calgary Flames were supposed to be a better team than the Colorado Avalanche, what with their 50 regular season wins and all, plus a deep offensive threat, solid defencemen and a netminder who proved age was just a number.
“The ultimate disappointment,” said netminder Mike Smith, who, at 37 years old was the Flames’ best player the entire series and stopped another 32 on Friday. “It’s why you want to play hockey. It’s why you train in the summer and battle through an exhibition season, a regular season, put in a ton of work.
They failed to capitalize on the powerplay while one of Colorado’s best players, Landeskog, was off for hooking. When that expired, the Flames were caught on a long shift in their own zone and eventually Colin Wilson made them pay after some pretty passing with Rantanen. An exhausted Rasmus Andersson and Brodie looked exasperated as the visitors went up 3-1.
The signs were there. Maybe the Flames weren’t as good as they thought they were. Or maybe they just can’t bring their best stuff when it matters. “They snuffed us out offensively and did a good job to shut down our top guys. You always have to remember there’s two teams on the ice. You have to give credit to their team and the way they contained us.”
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