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Strong
3rd Leads Buds By Flames
Â
Sutter
Continues Stand, Limits
Iginla's Ice
January
13th, 2002
Rick Charlton
It would have been a
certifiable crime had
the Flames lost this
one.
And they did.
|
| Saprykin |
Drury |
Iginla |
| Gelinas |
Conroy |
Sloan |
| Niedermayer |
Yelle |
Clark |
| Berube |
Johansson |
Nichol |
| Lydman |
Regehr |
| Boughner |
Gauthier |
| Montador |
Leopold |
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Outshooting the Leafs
15-1 after one period
and trailing 1-0, the
Flames threw another 12
shots at Toronto in the
second period to grab a
2-1 lead, dominating a
contest they should have
won going away.
But Toronto finally
woke up in the third,
blitzing Calgary starter
Roman Turek with 15
shots, scoring on two of
them to take a 3-2
decision over the
ever-faltering Flames.
The loss was the
fourth in a row for the
Flames and brought
Darryl Sutter's record
in Calgary to 4-4-1
while dropping the
Flames on the season to
14-22-6-3.
Calgary is 11 points
out of a playoff spot,
tied for last in the
Western Conference while
staring at another six
teams they have to
leapfrog in the next 37
games.
Hard? No. Impossible.
It was also the
second time this season
the Flames had entered
the third period with a
lead on the Leafs, only
to lose the game.
"We're going to
battle hard and as a
group we're going to get
out of this,"
promised Flames winger
Rob Niedermayer of the
latest of a string of
Flames skids.
While it has been
easy in recent games to
question Calgary's
effort, that may not
have been the case in
this one as the Flames
held a wide territorial
advantage over Toronto
through 40 minutes,
dominating in every
aspect of the game.
So sad is the state
of Calgary these days,
however, that the Leafs
needed to put in only 20
minutes of effort to
dispatch the Flames.
Craig Berube, with a
Denis Gauthier shot
deflecting off his
skate, and Stephane
Yelle with his eighth of
the season and fifth in
the last nine games,
gave the Flames a lead
through two frames.
But Toronto centre
Robert Reichel found
himself mysteriously
alone in front of Turek
for a patented hard
wrist shot Flames fans
remember so well,
bringing the Leafs even
at 8:35 of the third
period.
Then it was the turn
of Mats Sundin to cut
the heart out of
Calgary, blowing by Toni
Lydman, switching from
backhand to forehand in
a heartbeat and wristing
a shot past Turek from
20 feet at 12:01.
Flames were outshot
15-6 in the third period
after having a 27-7 edge
in shots after 40
minutes.
Nik Antropov scored
the other Toronto goal.
Toronto is now
unbeaten in 13 at the
Air Canada Centre.
Neither team was able
to score on the
power-play, the Flames
going zero for four and
the Leafs zero for five.
Next up is the Toilet
Bowl, bottom feeder
Nashville visiting
Calgary for a battle of
last place teams on
Thursday, only the
latest in what will
undoubtedly be a long,
long line of must win
games. The contest will
start a five game Flames
homestand
Get
Your
Calgarypuck
Gear!
Â
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1
Ed Belfour -
stood tall
through 40
minutes with
his team
outshot 27-7,
belying
summertime
critics who
said his
career was on
the downswing.
Thirty-three
saves when the
dust had
settled.Â
2
Alex Mogilny -
rang the post
in the third
from the
blueline,
almost scored
in the first
with the puck
halfway over
the line, put
a shot that
skittered
behind Turek
but through
the crease and
finally picked
up an assist
on the winning
goal.
Dangerous all
night and not
even a
contract
year.Â
3
Stephane Yelle
- A poor
man's Mike
Ricci for
ex-Sharks
coach Darryl
Sutter. Great
second period
goal.
Ed
Belfour made
an outstanding
on Chris Clark
14 minutes
into the
second period,
acrobatically
swatting a
Chris Clark
wrist shot
away from a
sure red
light. Or
maybe the
game-saving
stop on Iginla
in the final
minute of the
game, closing
the pads in
the nick of
time.
Midway
through the
first period,
Travis Green
caught Martin
Gelinas with
his head down,
sending the
Flames winger
spinning to
the ice.
After
Monday's flat
4-2 loss to
Montreal,
Sutter
followed up
with a full
game day
morning
practice prior
to the Leaf
game last
night. Were
the Flames
fatigued in
the third
period as a
result? . . .
. . Turek
started his
25th
consecutive
game for the
Flames,
nearing Mike
Vernon's club
record of 27
consecutive
starts set in
1992-93 . . .
. "I
couldn't agree
with him
more,"
Button said of
Sutter's
criticism of
Conroy, Iginla
and other top
line players
after the
dreadful 4-2
loss in
Montreal.
"Quite
frankly, the
players who
have put in
the gritty
determined
effort get
cheated (when
the top
players fail
to show
up)." . .
. . . . Button
said he and
Sutter talk
every day and
personnel
changes, if
necessary,
will come from
that contact.
. . . . Button
was in Toronto
for a
gathering of
Flames scouts
to evaluate
the junior
scene,
building
towards the
next entry
draft in June.
. . . . Lots
of goal posts
in this game,
including
Mattias
Johansson
ringing the
bar in the
second period.
. . . . . I'm
looking pretty
good on my
January
prediction
piece, saying
the Flames
would suffer
at the hands
of ex-Flames
throughout the
month. Tonight
it was Robert
Reichel. . . .
. . Shayne
Corson had the
Flames
thumping the
table in
outrage after
he
inexplicably
escaped
punishment in
the second
period,
dropping stick
and gloves
while jostling
Bob Boughner
yet receiving
no penalty
when the
Flames
defenceman
prudently
ignored him. .
. . . . . As a
notable
follow-through
on his
blistering
criticism of
his top
players,
Sutter limited
Jarome
Iginla's ice
time to under
20 minutes for
the first time
in memory, the
big Flames
winger logging
only 18
minutes, only
one second
more than
Yelle. Gelinas
was 16:12 and
Craig Conroy
18:12. Toni
Lydman led the
team with
27:38 in ice
time. . . . .
.Mats Sundin
was 22:12 as a
counterpoint
while the
Leafs were led
by Bryan
McCabe at
25:43. . . . .
Chris Drury
was 77% in the
faceoff circle
but the Flames
as a group
were a rare
49%, under the
breakeven
point. Sundin
was 58% for
the Leafs. . .
. . . Anyone
remember when
Peter Maher
used to be the
radio voice of
the Leafs? . .
. . . Mats
Sundin for
Wendel Clark.
Remember Leaf
fans blowing a
gasket over
that one?
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