Hey, did you guys see this Cam Talbot when he toiled with you?
Just wondering if this was a "One of" or should this be what we can grow to get used to?
The Flames - who dressed only six regulars and recalled eight players from Stockton to round out the roster on a long, there-and-back travel day - faced a veteran Sharks team loaded with primetime talent.
Joe Thornton, Erik Karlsson, Burns, Kane and many more all dressed in front of their home fans.
Talbot was under siege early as he faced a barrage of quality chances, thanks in large part to a pair of Oliver Kylington penalties that put the visitors down a man twice, less than five minutes apart.
However, the 'Goalbuster' stood tall, stonewalling Danil Yurtaykin's backdoor tap-in attempt, before scrambling back into position and kicking out the left pad to deny Karlsson's blast from the opposite circle.
It was more of the same early in the second as Talbot came out of his net to cut down the angle on a hard-charging Logan Couture, again using the tip of his left wicket to knock the sniper's backhand try to safety.
Moments later, he took another away - this time with the trapper - robbing Karlsson yet again off the right circle after the former Norris winner walked in and looked to bury, top shelf.
His finest, though, came late in the middle stanza when he robbed Kane with a ridiculous glove grab. Brent Burns orchestrated the whole thing, showing great vision and zipping a beautiful cross-ice feed over to Kane, who rifled a one-timer at the bottom of the far circle.
But Talbot was there, lunging across to cut off the angle in what was a circus-like save from his belly.
The Flames had a terrific chance to break the goose-egg shortly thereafter when Tobias Rieder broke in a short-handed break, but his backhand-forehand move was smothered by Martin Jones.
|