Anaheim Ducks right wing Corey Perry, left, celebrates his game winning goal the Patrick Maroon during overtime in Game 5 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series against the Calgary Flames in Anaheim, Calif., Sunday, May 10, 2015.The Associated Press
In time, the disappointment of how it ended – with a gutting 3-2 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks – will be mitigated by the unexpectedly successful season they had. But that knowledge did nothing in the short term to temper the disappointment they were feeling in the Calgary Flames' dressing room Sunday night, when their remarkable, unexpected run to the second round of the NHL playoffs came to an abrupt end in Death Valley, aka the Honda Center.
The Ducks, who'd dominated the Flames at home for the better part of a decade, found a way of pulling one out of the fire Sunday.
Unlike the first two games in the series, which Anaheim dominated and won by a cumulative 9-1 margin, the Flames gave them a much harder time of it in Game 5.
Calgary never trailed in the game until Corey Perry scored 2:26 into overtime to give the Ducks another in a season-long string of come-from-behind victories. Anaheim dominated the overtime, but it wasn't until Perry banged in a loose puck from the crease, after surviving a scary moment earlier in the game, that the Ducks finally put the Flames away.
"It's sad that our season is over," said Flames' coach Bob Hartley, "but the boys battled hard. There are lots of long faces in this locker room. They wanted to keep going. I'm very proud of our group. Tonight, is not a good night. It's a tough loss to swallow, but at the same time, we knew that with a young team, we had to take some lessons – and tonight is a tough one.
"Looking at the season, looking at the playoffs, the Ducks stepped it up and in the third period and in OT, we had no answers for them."
Twice in the game, the Ducks overcame one-goal deficits by scoring on the power play, once by Ryan Kesler and once by Matt Beleskey. Calgary was one of the most disciplined teams in the regular season, but ran into penalty problems for the second consecutive game – and it ultimately cost them the series. Kesler was a series-long thorn in the Flames' side, with coach Bruce Boudreau using him extensively in a defensive role.
Beleskey, who said he grew up in Toronto modeling his game after former Maple Leafs' captain Wendel Clark, set a Ducks' record by scoring a goal in all five games of the series. His tying goal came 59 seconds into the third period, when he deflected a shot by Francois Beauchemin past Flames' goaltender Karri Ramo, with the Flames' Mikael Backlund in the penalty box.
Anaheim is now a perfect 5-0 on home ice in these playoffs and will face the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference final beginning later in the week. For Boudreau, it marked the first time in his NHL coaching career that he'd gotten a team into the third round – an important personal milestone.
Boudreau had a lot of kind words for the Flames post-game, calling them "as resilient as all get-out. You give that big line a chance, and they put it in. (Johnny) Gaudreau scares you every time he touches the puck. Ryan Kesler did an unbelievable job against them, but you can tell they've got great character.
"I mean, their three defencemen (Kris Russell, Dennis Wideman and T.J. Brodie) played almost 30 minutes every night and probably almost the same amount of time ever since Mark (Giordano) went down. They didn't have a lot left, but they were giving it everything they had – and with five seconds to go (in regulation), they had a two-on-one and they could have ended it.
"When those guys get a little more experienced, that's a team I think is going to be very good next year."
The Flames were anywhere from 100-1 to 275-1 long shots to win the Stanley Cup back in September, a lightly regarded team going into the season that received a lot of praise from their opponents for their resilience when it was over.
They received career seasons from the likes of veterans such as Wideman and Hudler, along with breakthrough years from the rookie Gaudreau, who scored the second Calgary goal, as well as second-year centre Sean Monahan.
A sign of just far the Flames came this year is that Hartley and three players (Hudler, Gaudreau and injured defenceman Mark Giordano) are all in contention for NHL awards. They'll convene in Las Vegas in June, where the eventual Stanley Cup champions will show off the trophy.
The Flames came farther faster than anyone could have imagined, advancing to the playoffs for the first time since 2009 and actually winning a round for only the second time since 1989. Five home playoff dates generated millions in income for the organization and the noise level in the Scotiabank Saddledome was something to behold for most of the playoffs.
"The investment we put into those young players in the playoffs, it's priceless," assessed Hartley. "Now, they know how hard they need to suffer to win some games – and the pace, how unbelievable the pace is. Now they know. It doesn't guarantee success, but it's another page in our book. Obviously, I like the way this group moved forward this year. Certainly, we have a long way to go, but these playoffs were a huge investment for them – and also for the entire organization."
Calgary got better as the series went along, and from Games 3 to 5, showed they could play with the more experienced Ducks. But in the end, Anaheim had just a little too much.
"We were right there tonight," said forward David Jones. "Who knows, if we'd won tonight, what would happen if we'd gone back home? But you have to give them credit. They're real deep. They're a strong team too and I think they have a good chance to go all the way. I was just real proud of our team."
The good news is that next year, the Flames will presumably get full seasons out of Sam Bennett and Micheal Ferland, two young players who had regular-season cameos, but made a greater impact in the playoffs. Giordano, who hasn't played since surgery to repair a torn biceps tendon, should be fully recovered in time for training camp. There was a chance Giordano could have returned to play had the Flames advanced to the third round.
Giordano is entering the final year of a below-market contract that will pay him $4 million for the 2015-16 season. Calgary is eligible to start negotiating an extension with him after July 1 and presumably that will be the No. 1 item on general manager Brad Treliving's off-season to-do list. The Flames have already got Giordano's partner, T.J. Brodie, signed to a long-term contract and Hartley had previously received an in-season extension to stay on as the team's coach.
Ramo was exceptional all night and his play kept the Flames in it when the momentum shifted squarely Anaheim's way in the second half of the game. He is an unrestricted free agent once July rolls around and getting his name on a contract extension will also be a priority for Treliving.
"We had a chance but you lose a game, you lose a game," said Ramo. "It doesn't matter right now. It's a pretty empty feeling. It's a tough team we played against. I think we can be proud. The first game we got run over, but we kept playing and getting better and better all the time. It's a pretty bad feeling right now, the way we were playing and battling. Now it's over. I think everybody had a lot more to give. We gave everything but right now it's really tough."
The Ducks received a scare with about four minutes to go in the second period, when Perry, the NHL's leading playoff scorer, collided with the Flames' Matt Stajan and appeared to injure his right knee or thigh. Perry had to hop on his left foot to get off the ice, but he ultimately returned to play the third – and his presence gave the Ducks' crowd a reason to cheer and perhaps turned the momentum their way. When he popped in the OT winner – for his 15th point of the post-season – the place went crazy.
As for the Flames, they flew home immediately after the game and will likely hold their exit interviews Tuesday, about a month later than usual. By then, what the pain of losing may have diminished. Some of it anyway.
"We gave it our best, we left it all out there, but it just wasn't good enough," said forward Joe Colborne. "It sucks. We put a lot of work in this year. We surprised some people. Over the next few days, we'll come to think of the positives. It's just a little hard right now."