Mark Giordano had an assist Monday night. One more, and he would’ve tied the hard-shooting Al MacInnis for the most consecutive multi-point games by a Flames defenseman.
That record stands at five games.
Unfortunately for Giordano, he fell one point shy of tying MacInnis as the Flames lost to the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 4-1. He still had four consecutive games with at least two points, and is up to 19 points in 17 games, which leads all NHL defensemen.
Calgary’s play to this point in the season, and the results that have come with it, has been one of the early surprises so far. The Flames are third in the Pacific Division with a 9-6-2 record. But, yeah, it’s early.
They finished this five-game Eastern Conference road trip, which included stops in Montreal, Washington, Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina, with a 3-2 record.
“It’s in our hands whether we’re going to be OK or we’re going to be very good,” Flames head coach Bob Hartley told the Calgary Sun. “You don’t celebrate anything at 3-2. We did our job. People will say, ‘Wow, it’s a good road-trip.’
“I qualify this, if we’re 3-2, as OK. If we’re 4-1, it’s very good. There’s a huge difference.”
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have suddenly won five of their last six games. They didn’t win a game for the entire month of October.
As you’d might expect, their attendance seems to have taken a hit.
One downside to the win was the attendance: 9,906. That's four straight home crowds of fewer than 12,000.
— Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) November 11, 2014
Canes are 4-1-1 at home. As team president Don Waddell has said, Canes have to give their fans hope. A 5-0-1 November should do that.
— Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) November 11, 2014