CALGARY – Minutes after his evening ended with a ten-minute misconduct for arguing a game-deciding penalty call, Nazem Kadri was still hot.
Taking a slightly more diplomatic approach with the media than he did with referee Cody Beach, he still made it clear he felt a good ol’ Saturday night tilt was taken from his club by a costly slashing call he was whistled for with five minutes left.
“We had a great game on our hands, and it’s very unfortunate that’s what it had to come down to,” said the Flames veteran, cagey enough to share his frustration without saying enough to get him fined.
“I feel like you’ve got to have some feel for the game. Especially when they are coming off a 5-on-3, to have that one called is upsetting.
“It was tremendous hockey out there. It was just a toe-to-toe battle and someone had a little too much decision on the game.”
With the crowd in a frenzy following a 90-second kill that had Dustin Wolf making several big saves while down two men, Kadri was forechecking behind the Winnipeg Jets net late in a 3-3 game.
Reaching in with his stick to make light contact between Neal Pionk’s two gloves, Kadri was penalized, prompting some strong words and a slamming of the penalty box door.
A minute later, a Cole Perfetti one-timer beat Wolf from the right faceoff dot for a 4-3 lead with four minutes left.
Kadri’s return to the ice included more words for Beach, who incidentally spent parts of three seasons playing at the Saddledome with the Calgary Hitmen.
An empty-netter by Mason Appleton a few minutes later prompted more choice offerings from Kadri, who was then told to exit the game.
‘He just thought it was a penalty, and obviously, I disagreed,” shrugged Kadri, whose club has lost two in a row following its 5-0-1 start.
“I just feel like it’s tough timing in the game. It’s maybe going into overtime, there were lots of penalties called in the game already, so you’ve got to have some feel for it.
“Obviously, to have that not go in your favour and not let the players decide essentially, it’s frustrating for sure.”
His frustration was no–doubt compounded by the fact special teams were the clear difference in the game.
Not only was the Flames’ power play units unable to score on any of their four opportunities, they also allowed a shorthanded beauty by Kyle Connor.
The Jets scored twice on the power play, which helps explain how they’ve racked up an 8-0 record to this point.
No shame in the effort for the Flames, who hung tough with the NHL’s top team, twice coming back to tie the game.
“Five on five, I thought we were the better team, but just too many penalties,” said Rasmus Andersson, whose fourth of the season tied it 2-2 late in the second and was followed by his patented death stare for a rink-side Jets fan.
A late slew foot penalty on Martin Pospisil was disturbing for coach Ryan Huska, much like the two offensive-zone penalties Pospisil took two games earlier to earn a benching.
The power play woes troubled Huska too, but could be partially blamed on a rather rusty Yegor Sharangovich who made his first appearance of the regular season following a pre-season injury.
Huska didn’t want to criticize the officiating, saying only that he wished the players could have decided the game at even strength.
The loss was Wolf’s first in four starts this season, ending a seven-game winning streak that dates back to last season.
On a night full of strange bounces for both clubs, two of the Flames’ sharp-angle goals were countered by a fortuitous bounce that went off Andersson’s skate and past Wolf, followed by a Dylan Samberg pinballer Wolf still hasn’t seen.
“I haven’t had one like that,” said Wolf of Samberg’s point blast way over the net that bounced off the glass and right between the numbers on the back of Wolf’s jersey, into his net.
“Those are unfortunate breaks you can’t control so you just have to worry about the next shot.”
Wolf appeared poised to steal the game late with a series of shorthanded saves, with the crowd rising to their feet for a loud ovation as the 5-on-3 expired.
“If that penalty doesn’t get called shortly after we’re in good hands with momentum on our side,” said Wolf, who finished with 30 saves.
“That’s hockey for ya.”