Like San Jose Shark Dan Boyle just before him in last spring's opening round against the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flame Cory Sarich relived the worst nightmare possible for an NHL defenseman on Saturday night. And, no, it wasn't the one involving Dan Cloutier as the team's starting netminder, although that would be pretty bad in its own right.
No, Sarich put the puck in his own net, and, unlike Steve Smith of the Edmonton Oilers in 1986, or Chris Phillips of the Ottawa Senators in the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals, he didn't have the old "put it in off the goalie" excuse going for him. Sarich outright shot the puck in his own net.
What's funny is that heading into this game, the Canadian media had been praising the Calgary Flames as being an offensively dynamic team and saying that the Washington Capitals had better watch out. Apparently, even Canadian television underestimated just how offensively dynamic that Flames could be. The end result of the game was a 7-2 blowout loss that cemented the Capitals as legitimate contenders behind the goaltending of Michal Neuvirth and their newly awakened offense (although it remains to be seen if it can stay awake) - and further highlighted Calgary's shortfalls and inconsistencies.
Sarich wasn't the only reason the Flames lost, but he is the funniest one. It remains to be seen if trigger-happy general manager Darryl Sutter will go out an re-enlist the help of Al MacInnis. Better yet, Smith played a few seasons for the Flames too. If there's ever another disaster you want to relive in the vain of Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay...
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