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Flames
Continue Sutter Streak
Team
Moves to Five Unbeaten
Under New CoachÂ
January
7th, 2002
Rick Charlton
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AP Photo |
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Celebrate!: Rob
Niedermayer and Blake Sloan celebrate Niedermayer's first period
goal.
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He's
been a Flame only five
games but already Darryl
Sutter is a trend
setter.
The
newly minted Flames
coach, introduced with
much fanfare only a week
and a half ago, remained
undefeated through his
first five games, a feat
accomplished by no other
Calgary mentor, as he
guided his new charges
to a hard-fought 4-2 win
last night over the
Colorado Avalanche in
front of the obligatory
sellout of 18,007 in
Denver.
While
this one won't be
regarded as a classic,
the Avs holding the
territorial advantage
through the first forty
minutes, the Flames took
advantage of the
opportunities presented
to them and ran sure
fire Hall of Famer
Patrick Roy's all-time
record against Calgary
to 13-18-8.
The
Flames hold a 2-1-1
advantage so far in the
five game season series
against the tough
Avalanche.
Calgary
might be nine points
behind the pace of last
year at the half way
mark of the season, but
lately have been going
the opposite direction
of that unfortunate
outfit of 2001-02 which
sank into the depths of
despair after an early
hot start.
Calgary
is now 4-0-1 under
Sutter and while this
may look like the early
hot and bothered period
where every player is
scrambling to impress
their new bench boss,
the Flames in fact also
look to be coming
together and playing to
the level expected of
them at the start of the
year.
Flames
Jekyl and Hyde offence,
ranked ninth overall
after beating New Jersey
on Nov. 5 and 30th and
dead last only two weeks
ago while three times
this year exceeding the
team previous goal-less
streak, has put up 16
goals in Sutter's first
five games as coach.
The
victory left the Flames
at 14-18-6-3 on the year
for 37 points, only one
point in arrears of San
Jose as Calgary attempts
to leapfrog five teams
to harness the eighth
and final playoff spot
in the NHL's Western
Conference.
Edmonton
currently occupies the
last playoff spot but
the deficit has finally
be eased to single
digits, Calgary still a
seemingly impossible
nine points behind their
northern neighbours with
half the schedule still
to play.
Flames
are also unbeaten in an
improbable six games at
the Pepsi Centre in
Colorado.
Rob
Niedermayer resembled,
for one brief shining
moment, the player
everyone thought the
Panthers were drafting
back in 1993 when he
blew between Skoula and
former Flame Derek
Morris, cutting in on
Colorado starter Patrick
Roy and scoring only 30
seconds into the first
period.
Craig
Conroy padded the Flames
lead at 9:41, coming
down the ice on a two on
one with Martin Gelinas
and electing to drill a
slapper through Roy's
legs.
Former
Flame Dean McAmmond
brought the Avalanche
within one at 11:37,
taking a brilliant Joe
Sakic pass and putting
it through the wickets
of Flames starter Roman
Turek.
But
Jarome Iginla was able
to extend Calgary's lead
to two goals once again,
backhanding a
shorthanded rebound of a
Craig Conroy shot past
Roy after the two Flames
had broken loose on a
two on one at 6:16 of
the second period.
Colorado
scored what might have
been a backbreaker with
only 24 seconds
remaining in the period,
a terrific play between
Sakic and Peter Forsberg
finished off with a
sensational wrist shot
by sniper Milan Hedjuk
over Turek's glove.
Martin
Skoula coughed up the
puck to Stephane Yelle,
however, the latter
racing down the ice on a
three on one, wristing a
shot just inside the
post on Roy at 10:13 of
the third period to put
the game away.
Both
teams were zero for five
on the power play.
Colorado
outshot the Flames
33-17.
Next
up is the best team in
the NHL, the bankrupt
Ottawa Senators, on
Thursday night at the
Saddledome.
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